[SERIOUS]I'm back! And I need opinions...

[BillGeek]

Hello everyone

It's been quite a while since I last visited VBForums, I'll admit. Hopefully the regulars are still around here...

I don't know if there's a dedicated forum for this type of question, but here goes anyway: I need to learn Java. I don't really know the intricate details around Java and what it's capable of, but I can write Java code, and have actually written a few Android apps already (one on the market, btw... ) and can most definitely write a Win32 app should the need arise. I just need the background and also an overview of what the capabilities are of the language... and perhaps a few things that are unique to Java, for example string comparison using a method instead of an operator. (Why, oh why is this? And I guess the answer to that would be covered in the course! )

Now I've had a look around at the training colleges in South Africa for courses that can teach me a bit of background on the matter, though I'm afraid that asking their "support" email address would be absolutely pointless. Below are three courses that they have for Java:
Introduction to Java for Object Oriented Developers
Java Fundamentals (Java SE 6) and
Java Programming (Java SE 6)

What the heck is the difference between all of these? As far as I can tell, all these courses cover pretty much the same topics. Does Oracle provide Java courses for not-so-absolute-beginners to the language? What courses did you existing Java developers attend? Kregg, I seem to recall you did some Java dev not so long ago?

Any help would be immensely appreciated!!!

[FunkyDexter]

They do look awfully similar but I think I could detect a subtle difference in emphasis.

The introduction looks like it's the most basic. The topics covered are things like variable declaration and looping - really basic stuff.
The fundamentals one looks like it's a bit more conceptual than the other two. It looks like it's about OO as much as it is about Java itself.
The programming one looks like it goes hand in hand with the fundamentals but is more about the implementation. It concentrates on syntax where fundamentals concentrates on concepts.

It's hard to know what you're actually going to get until you get there but I'd suggest it's probably one of the latter two you're after.

[BillGeek]

Cool, thanks for the feedback, I suspected that the first is more for beginners. I think I'll have to go for both of these. Fortunately it's "The Company" that pays for it

Oh, and before anyone starts wondering: This isn't about C# vs Java vs X vs Y again. The reason I need to do this is because the next version of our Application will have a java-based component, so we'll probably have to start learning it!