There's a stereotype of the hacker as a loner bent over his keyboard in a room dark but for the pallid glow of the monitor. This is only partly true. Yes, there does come a point where the rubber meets the road and you have to sit down, by yourself, and pound out a killer algorithm. But if you think that's all there is to it, if your style is to go it alone, you will never live up to your potential in this industry. Never.

The clearest proof of my thesis is the entire Open Source community and its "Many eyes tame complexity" aphorism. Thousands of Open Source products exist, many of them developed by dozens, sometimes hundreds, of programmers, working together to create something that none of us could build on our own. But there is much more to it than that.

Look, for example, at the Agile family of software development methodologies. eXtreme Programming's preference for open workspaces where developers can interact freely and its tenet of pair-programming are clear acknowledgments that we are more effective in groups than on our own.

Beyond that, there are literally thousands of Java mailing lists, newsgroups, and user groups out there. Join one. Join several. At a minimum, you'll find people who can help you when you get stuck. There's potential for so much more, though. You might just make friends. Someone for whom you'd be willing to step away from the keyboard, someone you might like to share a beverage or even break bread with.

Of course, this isn't just about personal growth. It's about professional growth. Getting involved in such a community, be it on- or off-line, can expand your professional network in ways you can't begin to imagine.

Here's the thing about the Java community. Everything I'm saying here has long been recognized by the luminaries in our industry. We know them from their books, their blogs, and their articles. We know them from the speeches they give at conferences. In this way, they make themselves available to you, not (exclusively) for their sake but for also yours. They are dedicated to this ideal. I feel comfortable generalizing and saying that they welcome your feedback. Send 'em comments on their written work. Go up to them after you hear them speak and talk to them. You'll thank me later.

That's not even the best part. You also have the opportunity to interact with them on a more direct, personal level. They?re on those same mailing lists, too. By and large, they participate in the discussions and are as much a part of these smaller Java communities as they are a part of the wider Java community.

How do I know this? Well, for a start the fact that you?re reading these words is living proof. Four years ago, I joined a Java mailing list. As I participated in the discussion, I got to know people. It turned out that a number of the members were authors and columnists. Over the years, other list members wrote books and articles. Some became API leaders. More authors joined up.

Now I wasn't one of these luminaries. I was just some random schmuck on the list. However, because I was on the list (currently in its third home at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/straight_talking_java/) was able to take advantage of an opportunity to write an article for Java Developer's Journal and then able to parlay that into further writing and editing responsibilities for the publishers of JDJ, SYS-CON Media.

Would this also work for you? You'll never know unless you try. So do yourself a favor. Get involved in the Java community. We'll all be better for it.