Oh God, what have I stumbled into?

Alright, so, I started with Java. I ended up vaguely, mildly skilled with it, but Java was always intended as being a stepping stone to something else… So once I got confident with Java, I started poking around looking for the next stone up, and the options were Server-side skills, Desktop Applications, or Mobile App Dev.

Server-side looked like it needed a lot more time until it became profitable. So… Bleh. Still, it would be useful for the site… buuuttt… I needed money ASAP, so that option went into long term storage.

Desktop Applications, though, looked like it might have some payoff, so… Cool. I started down that one for a bit, but uh… the problem with it is that most of the references/answers/solutions/whatever were all written several years ago, and to get through to the current stuff, you have to really dig, you know? So it got pretty frustrating pretty fast. No worries though. But then, I start looking around for jobs in Java… and… well, honestly, it’s a shitstorm. Pretty much all of the jobs for Java development have absolutely dick-all to do with Java. Instead, it’s like, they’re looking for a webdesigner to do their website, but since the last guy who applied had this “javascript” thing (whatever that is) on his resume… well, let’s look for a javascript person… and the site that we’re advertising on has a job title that says “Java Developer” and that’s like… really close to this javascript thing… they must be the same thing!!

You get the idea.

Okay so, Mobile App Development!

Yay! Let’s see, how can I use my newly acquired Java skills in the mobile enviro- *Reads Internet Articles* Oh! Hey! ANDROID!! Android uses Java! Sweet!! Let’s go do that!!

And then there was bunnies and rainbows and bubbles and unicorns.

…Oh wait, no there wasn’t. Because Android doesn’t actually use Java.

F You, Internet. F. You.

See, Android uses the Java syntax and structure… but that’s about it. So, switching from Java to Android isn’t like going from San Francisco to New York, where there’s just a few new things to pick up, but it’s still the same language.

No, it’s more like making the move from San Francisco to Barcelona. It’s like… the only similarities here in language are that they still use nouns and verbs.

Okay, that’s a little extreme. To put it another way, Android is still using the same structure and everything, but since the underlying methods and objects are different, it’s like having to learn that this thing, this hotdog that you’ve known all your life as a hotdog is now to be known as a CylindricalMeatProduct. And while it has all the same behaviors as a hotdog, they’re all named differently.

Way to make me feel like an idiot, Google.

For anyone who has worked with android:
Quick! How do I put text on a button?!? (The Android way, not the Java way)

Exactly.

On top of that though, Android has got a little storm on the horizon, particularly with App development progressively becoming more and more complicated as more handsets hit the market. I’ll probably end up writing more about that later though.

Honestly though, it’s starting to seem like getting into Android dev was a waste of time.