Throughout this book, we will use plain English to discuss some technical things. I will never expect you to read a technical explanation of a Java or Android concept that has not been previously explained in non-technical language.

So far, on a few occasions, I have asked that you accept a simplified explanation to offer a fuller explanation at a more appropriate time like I have with classes and methods.

However, the Java and Android communities, as well as the Android developer tutorials online, are full of people who speak in technical terms, and to join in and learn from these communities you need to understand the terms they use.

So, a good approach is to learn a concept or appreciate an idea using entirely plain-speaking language, but, at the same time, introduce the jargon/technical term as part of the learning.

Java syntax is the way we put together the language elements of Java to produce code that can be translated to DEX to work in the Dalvik virtual machine. The Java syntax is a combination of the Java words we use and the formation of those words into the sentence-like structures that are our code. We have seen examples already when using method definitions and method calls to structure Sub' Hunter.

These Java "words" are many in number, but taken in small chunks are almost certainly easier to learn than any human spoken language. We call these words keywords.

I am confident that if you can read then you can learn Java because learning Java is much easier than English. What then separates someone who has finished an elementary Java course and an expert programmer? The exact same thing that separates a student of language and a master poet.

Expertise in Java comes not in the number of Java keywords we know how to use but, in the way we use them. Mastery of the language comes through practice, further study, and using the keywords skillfully. Many consider programming as an art as much as a science and there is some truth to this.