Java is, without a doubt, one of the most widely used programming languages for software development. Consistently, programmers will find that Java is placed at the top of every major developer survey as their language of choice. Corporations of all shapes and sizes rely on apps developer in Java, in part because of its long history (it has been active and updated for over three decades), its continued development, its support, and the security that such a longevity provides.
Regardless of your stance on which programming language reigns supreme – JavaScript, Python, C#, or Java – the fact remains that adding Java to your coding repertoire as a primary, secondary, or even third language will only do wonders for your career, employability, and salary negotiations. With that in mind, we have rounded up some of the top online courses to learn Java syntax and software development principles.
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What are the Best Online Courses to Learn Java?
Unlike some of its competitors, Java is not the easiest language to learn. While it is certainly not the most difficult, it is not anywhere near as simple as learning Python, Perl, or PHP. Comparatively speaking, Java, from a learning curve, ranks up their with the C-family of languages (C, C#, C++, and Objective-C) and is often placed within the C-family. In fact, in college courses, you will usually take C, C++, and then Java – in that order.
Because of this, Java can be trickier (but not impossibly so) to learn via forums and online tutorials than other languages, especially for beginners. The online Java courses presented in this article are highlighted because we feel that they can help ease some of this burden, especially when paired with our own Java programming tutorials.
A quick note – not every version of Java is the same. The current version of Java is Java 17, which was released in late 2021; Java 19 is slated to be released in September 2022. Despite this, Java version 11 is still supported and widely used by software developers. Because of this, you will see courses listed within this tutorial that teach version of Java from 11 through 17.
Java Programming for Complete Beginners by Udemy
The Java Programming for Complete Beginners course from Udemy is a great place to start learning how to code in Java. Keeping in mind that Java is not a language that you can jump into and learn in a few hours, this course weighs in at 31 hours. It teaches all of the core programming concepts you would anticipate in an online programming course, including how to install Java, use an integrated development environment, basic Java syntax.
The coursework does skip around a bit, tossing students into the principles of object oriented programming (OOP) earlier than is probably recommended. That being said, students can skip around and start at learning about data types and conditions if they find OOP a complicated subject. Other topics covered include working with loops, decision making, and operators. From there, more intermediate level topics are covered, including threading, concurrency, and a brief visit through Java frameworks, such as Spring.
Finally, the course wraps up with a very special feature: covering how to answer interview questions and find a career as a Java developer.
To sign-up for the course, visit the Java course’s Udemy listing: Java Programming for Complete Beginners.
Java from Zero to First Job by Udemy
We love courses that have a purpose, and for most budding developers, landing an actual job is the primary purpose for learning a programming language. The Java from Zero to First Job course from Udemy has a purpose: teach students how to code and get their first job.
In addition to learning basic Java syntax and the foundations of practical programming, including best practices and core principles, this class preps course takers for starting their careers with 1200 examples, interview practice tests, and plenty of code puzzles (which you may encounter during a software developer interview).
The course is over 66 hours long with 244 lectures. Basic programming is taught alongside intermediate and advanced level software development topics, like how to work with relational databases, frameworks, object-orientation, logging, and error handling.
You can learn the full curriculum or sign up for the course, visit its listing on Udemy: Java from Zero to First Job by Udemy.
The Ultimate Java Expert Certification Bundle from TechRepublic Academy
If you have read our course highlights before, then you will know that we love TechRepublic Academy because they frequently bundle multiple courses into one package, allowing programming students to learn multiple technologies at a lower price than if you were to just choose individual classes.
The Ultimate Java Expert Certification Bundle is just such a bundle. It contains 11 total Java courses, starting with a review of Java. From there, students will learn how to build web applications using Java, Springboot, and Vaadin. Next, important concepts like multi-threading and design patterns are taught. This sets pupils up for fifth course, which delves into how to build desktop application with Java Swing.
From there, course focus shifts to intermediate and advanced Java concepts and fundamentals, before wrapping up covering two very important elements of software development: how to build user interfaces and how to work with databases. By the end of the course, students will have a full understanding of Java development and how to build applications with the popular programming language.
You can sign-up for this course by visiting its listing on TechRepublic Academy: The Ultimate Java Expert Certification Bundle from TechRepublic Academy.
Learn the Java Spring Framework: Create a Social Network by TechRepublic Academy
The Learn the Java Spring Framework: Create a Social Network is a great course to learn not only Java coding, but also the Java Spring Framework, which developers use to create “frameworks” or skeletons of apps and web applications, saving time, coding, and helping to avoid errors, as programmers use frameworks to skip having to code commonly used software features.
What is also great about this course is that, at the end, students will have created their own social network, similar to Facebook, using Spring Boot. This completed project is great to use as part of a portfolio when trying to find a software developer job and also helps students embed what they learned in their memory; it is far easier to retain information when you use it, versus just discussing abstract concepts.
You can sign up for this 36 hour Java course by visiting its page on TechRepublic Academy: Learn the Java Spring Framework: Create a Social Network.
Intro to Programming with Python and Java from Coursera
The Intro to Programming with Python and Java course from Coursera makes our list because it combines the two most-used programming languages into one bombshell course. Students will begin by learning Python syntax and structures, which paves the way for learning programming concepts. Since Python is so easy to learn, learning it first will help ensure Java is easier to learn than normal, as all languages (practically) use the same core programming concepts, such as variables, operators, decision making, loops, and so on.
After learning Python and using it to create several projects – such as a banking system and movie review system – students will move onto Java. At the end of the class, pupils will have created several Java applications too, including a text file parser and text analyzer.
You can join this online Java course by visiting its page on Coursera: Intro to Programming with Python and Java.
Kotlin for Java Developers from Coursera
If you are not aware, Kotlin is a newer programming language developed to be a future replacement of the Java programming language. It was created by the developer tool vendor, JetBrains, and contains virtually every element that Java does, though, arguably, with more concise and safe syntax. The language is interoperable with Java, meaning that you can seamlessly tie your Kotlin code in with Java code, without having to worry about issues or compatibility problems.
For this reason, the Kotlin for Java Developers course from Coursera makes our list. Students will learn the basic syntax of Kotlin, how it differs from Java, and its similarity to Java.
You can sign-up for the Kotlin course by visiting is Coursera listing page: Kotlin for Java Developers.
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