Don't start to learn Java on Android

I was looking on stackoverflow.com and noticed some Java beginner questions from android developer. If you never done anything in Java do not start to learn it on Android.

Android doesn't use vanilla Java. However they stolen* the API and made their own JVM. This not important. Just trolling. :-) There are some slight differences and creating Android application is more close to running EJB in application container.

Android application differs from desktop application a great deal. In desktop application it is up to developer to manage the life cycle of application. Also you don't have to care much about security and resource consumption to extent required by developing for mobile platform.

More importantly there are also practical reasons. It's much harder to debug beginner Java errors in Android than in Java console application. Android has few specific practices. However most of them are inherently Java practices. Also with experience in Java you won't be slowed down by solving problems that are not Android specific. Your application will be better, because you will be able to use the language and libraries efficiently.

I've never seen tutorial on Android, that would teach you the basics of Java language properly. Most of them silently assume you already now the language and few of them have very short crash course on Java.

To make it short. The point of this article is to deliver simple message. Learn walk first, before you try to run.

* Google is not the first to walk thin line between theft and legal. There is Microsoft and Apple, those two giants are first to show others the way of stealing ideas and technology in the industry.