Gain insights into Java, a versatile and portable programming language. Delve into similarities with C++ and Python and learn essential Java-specific features with practical coding examples.

Looking to jump into a new programming language? Java is an easy-to-use, highly portable and ubiquitous language that is used for a variety of development purposes such as Android applications,  desktop applications, and website backend systems. Designed for programmers who are already familiar with coding in languages such as C++, Python, or other similar languages, this course articulates any Java-specific details that programmers need to know to get acquainted with the language and also highlights similarities and differences between Java and other languages through multiple coding examples.

The Complete Java Crash Course

At this point, you should have a well-organized working program that lets you draw colored blocks on the screen. As this is a challenge project, the rest is up to you. I recommend breaking the project down into manageable chunks, setting some intermediate goals, and reaching those goals one at a time. There is no hurry -- take plenty of time to think through each step, and test it before going on to the next item.

Here are some things you'll need to do: 

1) Create the falling pieces, which are made up of multiple blocks. I wrote a class `Piece` to keep track of information for a small group of blocks. 

2) Each block needs a physical location within the piece -- the layout of the piece. I created a class `Location` that simply stores an x, y pair. A `Piece` then contains a list of locations. 

3) Each Piece needs to be able to fall, so each piece needs to know where it is on the screen. I added an instance variable `position` of type `Location` to the Piece class. I wrote a method `translate` in the Piece class. To actually make the piece fall, I had a line of code `activePiece.translate(0, -1);` in the `nextTurn` method of the Board class. Since the `nextTurn` method is called every second or so by the Tetrominos user interface, this causes the active piece to fall downwards one step at a time.

4) The blocks should translate left and write as the user presses the `s` and `f` keys on the keyboard. When those keys are pressed, the `slide` method of Board.java is called. Finish the `slide` method.

5) Add rotation in response to key presses. This step is trickiest, and you might leave it until last, since you can write a working game without it. You'll need to figure out how locations within a piece change on rotation.

6) Check for collisions between the falling *active* piece and the bottom of the screen, and blocks that are already sitting on the bottom of the screen. When there is a collision, copy block locations from the Piece to the Board to represent the leftover blocks, and then create a new active piece.

7) Check for complete rows of blocks in in the board, and delete them.

Good luck, and happy coding!





A few hints on how to finish the Tetrominos game.

Hello, Java!

Variables and expressions

Flow of control: loops and conditionals

Classes, objects, and methods

Challenge project: tetrominos

Finishing Tetrominos