Re: java tutorial available for download

Xah wrote:
my Java tutorial
is now available for download for offline reading.
Download link at the bottom.

Doesn't look terribly good as a tutorial.

My nits:
1. References either Java 1.4 or Java 5 documentation, the former of which is EOL, and the latter of which is beginning the EOL process.
2. No explanation of how to use newer Java features, such as generics, annotations, or enums. Doesn't even use them in earlier examples.
3. Several typos litter the place.
4. Sacrifices correctness for approachability. Specific examples:
4a. "lines enclosed between '/*' and '*/' are ignored." Lexically, those indicate the start and close of a comment token, so that it's not "lines" that are ignored, but "characters" (which is even a bit imprecise, since it's actually collecting output from the Unicode preprocessing).
4b. "special syntaxt [sic] to create jagged array in one shot." The syntax isn't special, it's a standard array creation and assignment expression.
4c. "constructer (often spelled constructor)" Actually, the JLS defines it as "constructor," along with my ISO C++ spec, and the python specs. "Constructor" is the accepted spelling, whereas "constructer" is a misspelling not even in the OED.
4d. "For example, if your file name is 'MyMainClass.java', then one of your class [sic] must be named 'MyMainClass'." No, it doesn't. The correct sentence is that "..., then a public top-level class must have the name 'MyMainClass'."
5. Violation of several accepted conventions.
6. Pointing people to bad practices, such as shoving a static method into a non-static context.

I'll stick with <http://java.sun.com/docs/books/tutorial/index.html>, thank you very much.
--
Beware of bugs in the above code; I have only proved it correct, not tried it. -- Donald E. Knuth
.

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