Are you ready to learn object-oriented Java software development? If so, I'd like to tell you about two great Java User Groups in town.
Let me introduce myself. I'm Jack Frosch, Founder and President of the Gateway JUG, one of two Java User Groups the St. Louis area is blessed to have.
First, let me tell you about the other group. It's called the St. Louis Java User Group and meets monthly on the second Thursday of the month. Its next meeting is Thursday, September 10th. While they can speak for themselves, I think it's safe to say that group tends to focus on intermediate to advanced Java topics, but not exclusively so. There are many great developers associated with that group and you'd do yourself well to participate in that community of developers. You can learn more about them at http://java.ociweb.com/javasig.
The Gateway JUG is the slightly newer Java User Group. I founded it about 8 years ago with the intention of focusing on beginner to intermediate Java development topics. We meet monthly on the first Tuesday of the month, so our next meeting will be on September 1st at 6:00pm. Our main web site is at www.gatewayjug.org and we maintain a Google Group at http://www.gatewayjug.org. And of course, we also have a LinkedIn Group.
In addition to our monthly meetings, we also conduct "Gateway JUG Group Study Classes" in a variety of Java-related topics. These are long form classes, typically conducted one night a week for 8 - 15 weeks.
Every fall, we hold the beginner Java class, which is now called Agile Java with Groovy. This class focuses on core Java topics, using an Agile Test Driven Development (TDD) approach. Starting last year, I added some Groovy language topics as well. (Groovy is Java's dynamic language cousin.)
In the winter/spring, we hold a Java Web Development group study class. This class focuses on Java web APIs, including the Servlet, JavaServer Pages (JSP), and JavaServer Faces (JSF) APIs. (In 2010, we'll have a track running parallel to JSF using another popular web development framework.)
The goal of these classes is to gently move an aspiring Java developer along from the basics of object-oriented programming in Java through web development. We usually hold short summer classes to explore other topics.
Nowadays, with so many different languages running on the Java Virtual Machine (JVM), both groups now include topics on languages other than Java. (If you don't know the difference between the Java language and the Java platform, come on out and we'll talk about it.)
For instance, in summer 2009, we held two classes, Programming for Google Android and Beginning Grails. We're getting ready to do the second part of the Grails class, called Intermediate Grails.
If you're new to Java or an aspiring Java developer, we've designed the Gateway JUG to be an especially comfortable community in which to get started. If you're a more experienced Java developer, you'll probably want to participate in both groups to stay up with the various topics, as well as participate in some of our more advanced group study classes.
There you have it - Two groups you can join, free of charge, to start learning about Java development.
(And of course, both Java User Groups would love to hear from prospective speakers who want to share their excitement about some new tool, technique, or API with our members.)
Welcome to the Java developer community!
Jack Frosch
Gateway JUG Founder and President
