WikiJava:About

From WikiJava

This is an introduction to the WikiJava project for visitors. There is also an encyclopedia article about it on Wikipedia:WikiJava.

WikiJava is a web-based, free content project for publishing material related to the learning of the Java programming language .

WikiJava is written collaboratively by volunteers from all around the world. It was created in January 2008 and is expecting to grow rapidly to become the most important Internet based resource for Java programmers.

Visitors are welcome contribute to add examples of source code, to add tutorials or to modify existing articles in order to improve them, making them more complete, more correct or more readable.

Articles can be edited by anyone with access to the Internet, simply by clicking the edit link at the bottom of the page in each article. Anyone is welcome to add information or cross-references, as long as they do so within WikiJava's editing policies and to an appropriate standard. For example, if you add information to an article, be sure to check that the information is correct, as inexact material is subject to removal.

There is no need to worry about accidentally damaging WikiJava when adding or improving information, as other editors are always around to advise or correct obvious errors, and WikiJava's software, known as MediaWiki, is carefully designed to allow easy reversal of editorial mistakes.

Because WikiJava is an ongoing work to which, in principle, anybody can contribute, it differs from a paper-based reference source in important ways. In particular, older articles tend to be more comprehensive and balanced, while newer articles more frequently contain significant misinformation, or vandalism. Users need to be aware of this to obtain valid information and avoid misinformation that has been recently added and not yet removed. However, unlike a paper reference source, WikiJava is continually updated, with the creation or updating of articles within seconds, minutes or hours, rather than months or years for printed books.

If you have not done so, we invite you to take a few moments to read What WikiJava is (and is not), so that you have an understanding of how to consult or contribute to WikiJava. Further information on key topics appears below. If you cannot find what you are looking for, try the Frequently Asked Questions. For help with editing and other issues, see Help:Contents.

All of the text in WikiJava, and most of the images and other content, is covered by the GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL). Contributions remain the property of their creators, while the GFDL license ensures the content is freely distributable and reproducible. (See the copyright notice and the content disclaimer for more information.)

Wikipedia contributors

Anyone with internet access and a decent knowledge of Java can contribute to WikiJava, and this openness encourages inclusion of a tremendous amount of content.

Several mechanisms are in place to help WikiJava members carry out the important work of crafting a high-quality resource while maintaining civility. Editors are able to watch pages and techies can write editing programs to keep track of or rectify bad edits. Several administrators with special powers ensure that behavior conforms to WikiJava guidelines and policies. When a few situations are still unresolved after all other consensus remedies have failed, a judicial committee steps in and decides to withdraw or restrict editing privileges or to take other corrective measures.

Making the best use of WikiJava

Exploring WikiJava

Many visitors come to this site to acquire knowledge, others to share knowledge. In fact, at this very instant, many articles are being improved, and new articles are also being created. You can view changes as they happen at the Recent changes page. You also can view random articles. Many articles have been designated by the WikiJava community as featured articles, exemplifying the best articles in WikiJava. Other articles are designated as good articles. WikiJava also has portals, which organize content around topic areas. You may also search for articles, using the search box on the left side of the screen.

Basic navigation in WikiJava

WikiJava articles are all linked, or cross-referenced. Wherever you see highlighted text like this, it means there is a link to some relevant article or WikiJava page with further in-depth information elsewhere if you need it. Holding your mouse over the link will often show you where a link will take you. You are always one click away from more information on any point that has a link attached. There are other links towards the ends of most articles, for other articles of interest, relevant external web sites and pages, reference material, and organized categories of knowledge which you can search and traverse in a loose hierarchy for more information. You can add further links if a relevant link is missing, and this is one way to contribute.

Using WikiJava as a research tool

As a wikipedia:wiki, articles are never complete. They are continually edited and improved over time, and in general this results in an upward trend of quality, and a growing consensus over a fair and balanced representation of information.

Users should be aware that not all articles are of a good quality from the start, and may contain false or debatable information. The ideal WikiJava article is technical, easy to understand, correct, and comprehensive, in the meaning that it contains, or links to, all the information required to understand or to verify the correctness of the argument discussed. An increasing number of articles reach this standard over time, and many already have. Our best articles are called Featured Articles (and display a small star in the upper right corner of the article), and our second best tier of articles are designated Good Articles. However, this is a process and can take months or years to be achieved, as each user adds their contribution in turn. Others will later have entire new sections added.

While the overall trend is generally upward, it is important to use WikiJava carefully if it is intended to be used as a research source, since individual articles will, by their nature, vary in standard and maturity.

Contributing to WikiJava

Anyone can contribute to WikiJava by clicking on the Edit this page tab in an article. Before beginning to contribute however, you should check out some handy helping tools such as the contributing manual and the policies and guidelines. It is important to realize that in contributing to WikiJava, users are expected to be civil and respectful of other users and of people in general.

Most articles start as drafts, but after many contributions, they can become featured articles. Once you have determined that there is no article on WikiJava on a topic you are interested in, you may want to request that the article be written (or you could even research the issue and write it yourself). The hope of any contributor is to provide useful and accurate information to others.

Editing WikiJava pages

WikiJava uses a simple yet powerful page layout to allow editors to concentrate on adding material rather than page design. These include automatic sections and subsections, automatic references and cross-references, image and table inclusion, highlighted, indented and listed text, math, as well as usual formatting elements and common symbols. Most of these have simple formats that are deliberately very easy and intuitive.

WikiJava has robust version and reversion controls. This means that poor quality edits or vandalism can quickly and easily be reversed or brought up to an appropriate standard by any other editors, so inexperienced editors cannot accidentally do permanent harm if they make a mistake in their editing. As there are many more editors intent upon good quality articles than any other kind, articles that are poorly edited are usually corrected promptly.

WikiJava content criteria

WikiJava content is intended to have an educative purpose, all the information must be verifiable with external sources. Patented or illegal code can not be posted on WikiJava. An important criteria for the contents on WikiJava is that the contributor who posts it must have the permission to post from the owner of the code.

Editorial administration, oversight and management

WikiJava is largely self-organising, so that anyone may build a reputation as a competent editor and become involved in any role they may choose, subject to peer approval. Individuals often will choose to become involved in specialised tasks, such as reviewing articles at others' request, watching current edits for vandalism, watching newly created articles for quality control purposes, or similar roles. Editors who find that editorial administrator responsibility would benefit their ability to help the community may ask their peers in the community for agreement to undertake such roles; a structure which enforces meritocracy and communal standards of editorship and conduct.

Handling disputes and abuse

WikiJava has a rich set of methods to handle most abuses that commonly arise; these methods are well tested and should be relied upon.

Intentional vandalism can be reported and corrected by anyone.
Unresolved disputes between editors, whether based upon behavior, editorial approach or validity of content, can be addressed through the talk page of an article, through requesting comments from other editors.

Technical attributes

WikiJava uses MediaWiki software, the open-source program.

Feedback and questions

WikiJava itself is run as a communal effort. It is a community project whose end result is a reference website for Java developers. Feedback about content should, in the first instance, be raised on the discussion pages of those articles. You are invited to be bold and edit the pages yourself to add information or correct mistakes if you are knowledgeable and able to do so.

Frequently asked questions (FAQ)

Frequently Asked Questions page

Contacting individual Wikipedia editors

If you need more information, the first place to go is the Contents. To contact individual contributors, leave a message on their talk page. Standard places to ask policy and project-related questions is the contact Page. You can also reach other users via e-mail.

For a full list of contact options, see Contact us.

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Highlights