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copied!<p>Well, this is a pretty broad question. The fact is there are dozens of ways to go about it. Do you have any Java experience?</p> <p>Assuming you have no Java experience at all, I would start by finding a few tutorials online, whatever looks good to you (<a href="http://download.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/" rel="nofollow">the official tutorials</a>, though, are an excellent place to start). Then go on <a href="http://codingbat.com/java" rel="nofollow">codingbat</a> and get really comfortable with the basics of Java (also, a good understanding of the <a href="http://download.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/collections/" rel="nofollow">Java Collections Framework</a> is essential for doing many things). You can do that before actually choosing an IDE (Integrated Development Environment, like <a href="http://netbeans.org" rel="nofollow">this</a> or <a href="http://eclipse.org" rel="nofollow">this</a>) to use for future coding.</p> <p>Once you feel okay about actually writing code, start reading about <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Object-oriented_programming" rel="nofollow">Object Oriented Programming</a>. Learning to make your code sufficiently <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Separation_of_concerns" rel="nofollow">modular</a> will actually allow you to work more quickly, as you'll have fewer bugs, will be able to make large changes more easily, and will be able to reuse code.</p> <p>Next you'll need to be able to create a GUI. Having just started in java, you'll most likely want to use <a href="http://download.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/uiswing/" rel="nofollow">Swing</a>, which can very quickly give you something nice to look at. I think many Java IDEs now have Swing design tools that allow you to drag-n-drop components into your GUI.</p> <p>Once you have a solid understanding of everything that you're going to have to use to build your TextTwist you should be able to plan it out. Draw some diagrams of your program, both how the classes fit together and how you want it to look (I use MS Paint and <a href="http://projects.gnome.org/dia/" rel="nofollow">Dia</a>). Make sure you know what you need before you start programming. Document everything you want the program and each class in it to do. This way if anything isn't going to work you'll know before you've written half your program and have to go back to fix it.</p> <p>At this point, it should be a piece of cake! Get a dictionary library, pick a seven letter word, check every combination of its letters against the dictionary and store those. Provide some way for the user to make guesses (through your Swing GUI!), and a way to record them. Stick a timer in there, et voila! TextTwist.</p> <p>There will be a lot of hard work in there, in and in between every step. But if you read as much as you can and keep asking questions (the more specific the better) it won't be so hard. The biggest obstacle when I started was getting discouraged when I bit off more than I could chew. Take small steps and the distance will fly by.</p>

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