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I have invented a new programming language called SJS which stands for Simplified Java Syntax which provides a learning path that is a less steep learning curve for learning Java than learning Java from scratch. The SJS language has a similar syntax to Delphi, Pascal and BASIC and is therefore easier to learn than Java itself. For many reasons you might even prefer to program in SJS rather than Java. The following tutorials on this web page will guide you through the process of writing code in the SJS language. Funnily enough the acronym SJS coincides with the acronym for the University of Canterbury Student Job Search organisation which suggests that if you learn SJS, you will land a good job!

Why learn to use SJS?

1. The SJS language is supported by a parser that troubleshoots problematic SJS code with clear error messages.
2. The SJS language compiles to Java in a natural and straightforward way so it is easy to learn Java once you know SJS, making for a less steep learning curve than learning Java from scratch.
3. Pascal-style begin ... end constructs are supported instead of C-style { ... } constructs which is more sensible especially for novices.
4. A simple syntax for the main function: beginMain ... endMain rather than some horrible crud: public static void main(lousy[]code[]).
5. Class variables, properties, functions, methods and constructors are declared as such much like Delphi which makes your code look clearer.
6. The Delphi/Pascal/Javascript keyword var for clearer local variables.
7. The Pascal/BASIC keyword then for clearer if statements.
8. The BASIC keywords and and or rather than some horrible crud: && and ||.
9. Click here for a snippet of some SJS code.

Tutorials

• SJS Tutorial 1: Your first program and introducing functions, parameters, arguments, strings, System.out.println and comments to give you enough basic SJS to get you started.
  
  
• SJS Tutorial 2: Introducing chars, the difference between == and =, booleans, the if ... else construct, local variables, ints, the for construct and teaching you how to call existing methods of the string class but not teaching you how to write your own methods until Tutorial 9.
  
  
• SJS Tutorial 3: Introducing System.out.print for printing without a trailing carraige return, revising loops that use the for construct, introducing doubles and revising ints and chars.
  
  
• SJS Tutorial 4: Other types of loops such as do ... while and while, and revising if statments and for loops. Learning what is the best of these three looping constructs.
  
  
• SJS Tutorial 5: Using all of the SJS constructs that you have learnt so far to rewrite a song to be more efficient and general-purpose.
  
  
• SJS Tutorial 6: Introducing class variables which are different from variables that are local to functions.
  
  
• SJS Tutorial 7: Introducing non-object arrays that are either single dimensional or multi-dimensional using two different initialisation syntaxes and introducing function name overloading.
  
  
• SJS Tutorial 8: Learning how to access class variables and functions from another class and introducing boolean arrays.
  
  
• SJS Tutorial 9: Mapping:
  • class variables → instance variables (which are better known as properties), and
  • functions → methods
  to allow for more than one object per class. This gives you the full power of OOP (Object Oriented Programming) classes. Introducing getter methods and references for accessing objects. Introducing the null keyword for representing no object and introducing the toString method, while explaining why this method is better than any other method or property for debugging your code.
  
  
• SJS Tutorial 10: Introducing object arrays that are either single dimensional or multi-dimensional. Revising two different initialisation syntaxes from Tutorial 7 on non-object arrays.
  
  
• SJS Tutorial 11: When classes have references to objects of other classes in their properties then you can set up relationships between different classes.
  
  
• SJS Tutorial 12: Overloading methods, swapping the properties of two objects, and converting methods to functions and vice-versa.
  
  
• SJS Tutorial 13: More questions about references.
  
  
• SJS Tutorial 14: When a class has a reference to itself as a property then you can build linked lists out of objects of this class. WARNING: Linked lists are tricky for novice programmers to grasp.
  
  
• SJS Tutorial 15: Introducing inheritance, polymorphism, getter and setter methods, the instanceof keyword for run-time type enquiry, the Object class and explaining in more depth why the toString method is useful for debugging.
  
  
• SJS Tutorial 16: Showing you how inheritance can be used to reduce the amount of duplication of code.
  
  
• SJS Tutorial 17: Arrays, inheritance and polymorphism. Also teaches why in most cases it is better to use polymorphism rather than run-time type enquiry.