Chapter 1. Your First Taste of Java

Developing a Java program involves writing code, compiling it into bytecode, and running the bytecode. This is a process you will repeat again and again during your career as a Java programmer, and it is crucial that you feel comfortable with it. The main objective of this chapter therefore is to give you the opportunity to experience the process of software development in Java.

As it is important to write code that not only works but that is also easy to read and maintain, this chapter introduces you to Java code conventions. And, since smart developers use an integrated development environments (IDEs) to make their lives easier, the last section of this chapter provides some advice on Java IDEs.