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

To get you started, and let you focus on practicing Java skills rather than writing user interface code, I have written the complete Tetrominos class and a little bit of the Board class. To use them, create a class for each using Eclipse, and cut-and-paste the code for each class into Eclipse. The code is below in the two tabs of the code window. Don't worry yet about how this code works; we'll go over it soon.

Once you have added this code to your Eclipse project, use Eclipse to run Tetrominos.java. You should see a window with a black background, containing a blue rectangle.


Explore the provided code for the Tetrominos user interface, in preparation for writing the game.

Hello, Java!

Variables and expressions

Flow of control: loops and conditionals

Classes, objects, and methods

Challenge project: tetrominos

Step 1: Getting the starter code