Currently I am taking classes at school for my major in Digital Enterprise (web design is what I'm going for). Anyways, one of the classes I am taking is Java Programming and I was wondering, do you need Java programming to make good websites.

The reason I ask is because I do not understand Java at all and I don't like it.

The short answer is no, you don't need it. But it's a bit more complicated than that.

Java isn't used that much on webservers. It's popular, I believe, for certain large scale enterprise and financial systems (Java EE stuff). Common languages for websites are PHP, Flash / ActionScript, JavaScript and perhaps C# / VB.NET and Perl.

If you're happy coding in C#, PHP, C++ or similar and just don't like Java then you're probably fine blowing it off. But I suspect from your question that you're not.

Unlike (say) PHP, Java is actually quite a nice, clean language, and it's a good one in which to learn to program. It will teach you about object oriented programming, it will force you use static typing (which is largely a good thing) and it will introduce you to some useful syntax that's common to quite a few popular languages today (C#, JavaScript, C++).

A lot of web designers don't know how to program. They may know enough to adapt someone else's script for their site or write a couple of lines of jQuery, but they don't get much beyond that. And I guess it's enough, but it does limit their options. After you've learned to program - in almost any language - you'll find it much easier to pick up new languages because you'll already understand roughly how they work.

It really depends on what you want to do with your web work. If you want to code the back end of websites, as opposed to just designing the front end, I'd consider sticking with it. Not because you'll end up using Java, but because you'll have a much better idea of what you want to do when you start writing PHP, Ruby or C#. And don't forget that there's a lot of increasingly complex JavaScript out there now too thanks to all of these web apps. On the other hand, there may be another course that you feel is more useful for your future career.

I know that's all a bit hand wavy, but it's the best I can do without knowing you, your background or your aspirations.

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You don't need Java for web design, although you can benefit from learning it.

I suggest you take this class, and even if you don't learn anything about Java, you should at least learn about programming languages in general.


P.S - You will most likely want to learn php sooner or later, and since php is similar to java, it will be easier to pick up.



Good luck with your studies.

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I need java everyday. At least a pot of it before I even think about going to work!




Oh . . . nevermind.

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Java Programming Language. I learned some Java when i was in college since its part of my course. learning Java is exciting and once you can follow how to make or run a programme using it, its very nice.

java programmers are also in demand today.. so study hard for that programming language.


~Live Life Cool~

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Thanks for the insight. Maybe it's just that I am not used to programming so I am not grasping the concepts of Java, but I will continue to struggle with it for another couple of weeks till the semester is over. Haha. :]

So, PHP is easier to learn? Is that what I am hearing?

Again thanks for all of yalls help. Any more insight will benefit greatly. :]

No you don't need Java at all

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