How to Learn Java Programming on Your Own

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November 29, 2021 Programming

IT professions have been at the top of the high-paying professions for several decades. Most people think that you need a 5-year university degree to master this profession. But that’s not the case.

Moreover, many students in an effort to master it, combine university studies with learning programming, and do it on their own. It’s not surprising, because a student’s budget is limited and often, instead of courses, students save up for an essay writing service in order to get good grades.

Now we will tell you how you can also save money and become a programmer in six months on your own.

Learning Java from scratch

There are several programming languages. One of the most popular is Java.

It’s great for beginners for several reasons:

many processes run automatically.
it is possible to create applications that work on any device.
there is good documentation (java world, oracle java doc) to help newcomers, which describes most possible problems.
there are large communities (StackOverflow, learn java reddit, oracle java community, jug, etc.) where you can discuss your problem and get advice from more experienced colleagues.
availability of extensive libraries and frameworks that cover most of the problems of novice developers.
the java language has been at the top of the rankings for the last few years, which predicts a stable future for it.
learning the theoretical framework from scratch is realistic in 6 months (provided that you take the learning process seriously).

Brief description of the programming language

Java is an object-oriented programming language with strict typing.

Applications written in this language are easy to run from any platform, as long as JRE – Java Runtime Environment – is installed on the platform. This is possible due to the compilation of the Java code into byte-code. This function is performed by a virtual machine, JVM, which is part of the Java Runtime Environment and is platform-independent.

The language uses the garbage collector mechanism, which performs the memory management function. It automatically clears the memory and deletes objects that are no longer in use.

Java’s syntax is similar to other C-like languages. Its features are, for instance, case-sensitive.

Where to start

It is advisable to start any learning process by setting clear goals. You need to understand why you need the knowledge and what you want to do with it.

Next, decide how you want to learn:

on your own;
specialized courses.

Another important step is to make a timetable. Firstly, you need to understand how many hours a day you will devote to learning. Secondly, at least roughly specify in what time frame and what topics you want to learn.

Another point: to successfully master this programming language, just like any other, it is important to maintain a balance between theory and practice. Without the practical day-to-day application of knowledge, your learning might take a long time. Moreover, the recommended ratio of theory to practice is 20% to 80% per day.

Libraries and classes

To simplify the work of programmers, class libraries have been created, which are needed to implement the most common tasks.

Classes can be:

built-in;
substituting.

Built-in classes are classes that are plugged in automatically (e.g., java. lang). Built-in classes are classes for solving system tasks and security system functioning, as well as class libraries for exception handling. Other libraries need to be included by themselves using the import operator.

Substitute classes are needed to convert the basic data types, e.g. char (basic) – Character (substitute).

To master the language, you also need to understand:

the basic tools for writing programs;
tools for deploying/running applications;
libraries for working with data.

The sequence of learning programming

Before you start learning Java, you need to understand the basics:

what the language is;
what a Java program is.

In general, there are several steps in the sequence of learning programming:

installing the java development kit software from the oracle website.
installing the jre (eclipse, netbeans, intellij idea, etc.).
learning java core and syntax.
acquaintance with popular libraries and frameworks.
mastering frequently used apis (junit, jdbc, jsp).

Installing Java and learning to use it

To work in Java, you need to have the Java Runtime Environment installed on your computer, which is a virtual machine and contains a class library.

To develop programs, you need to install a special Java Development Kit. It already contains JRE and other necessary programs.

It is installed from the official Oracle website. The most important thing is to choose the right version for your operating system: Windows, Linux, MacOS.

Learning the syntax

The syntax of this language is uncomplicated because it consists of:

Keywords. These are words that perform certain actions when used in code (if, else, for, float).
Persistent true, false, null, which perform their functions when included in the code.
Classes. A framework, which defines the structure, the boundary of an object, its state.
Strings – objects that contain a “string” of text.
Operators. They are needed to perform arithmetic operations and assign values to variables. They come in two types in Java: unary (+,=) and binary (++, +=).
Cycles – constructs that allow a block of code to be repeated several times.
Comments – text that is written between lines of code to explain code functions.

Programs for learning Java online

There are a large number of courses on Java available on various educational platforms that may appeal to the beginner:

Java. Basic Course – a course for beginners.
Object Oriented Programming in Java – suitable for those who are already familiar with the basic concepts of Java.
Learn Java – teaches the fundamental concepts of programming in Java.