My name is Jacob Matzke. I am Texas high school student who competes actively in the UIL-affiliated computer science competitions. From my experience with younger students or those new to the competitive programming scene in general, the introduction can be very daunting. From the general implementation of a Scanner object to basic file reading, new competitors can struggle to the point of giving up early in their coding careers. To combat this, I have created this website with basic tutorials in Java. The site is currently a work in progress though I someday hope to have created a database helpful for those new to Java all the way to a few who are looking to crack the final few problems in each packet. If you need help with a specific problem that you cannot find on the site, please use the contact page to email me about your question so that I may write a post on it ASAP.
So why Java? I believe that Java should be the first language that any programmer learns. Java is not particularly old; however, many languages today branched off of what Java created. This includes processes such as Object-Oriented Programming and type-based variables. By forcing a young programmer to learn these concepts first, the transition to other languages is much easier than if it were the other way around. Going from a language with little to no structure to one that is heavy in syntax can be very hard, but going from syntax to a language with much more freedom can feel liberating. Because of this, I feel that Java is a crucial language to learn in the development of a programmer. Another reason I believe Java is so important to learn is that UIL Texas creates its problem set around Java. You are forced to submit your code in Java in the programming section as well as take a multiple-choice test over Java code.