Java: One of the most popular programming languages

Java is a programming language created in the mid-’90s. Java is a powerful general-purpose programming language that can be used to create everything from desktop and mobile apps to big data processing and robot programming. Java programming has grown in popularity due to its platform independence, object-oriented nature, and ease of use.

According to the well-known PYPL index from Github and the TIOBE index, Java is today one of the most popular programming languages and one of the most common languages to start with when learning programming.

Java Developers are in-demand tech professionals today. Regardless if Java is a hobby, passion, or way to level up your career, here are some reasons to learn Java programming

There are several reasons why you should learn Java, including:

From web to mobile to desktop, Java is found in almost all operating systems. Not only is Java universally used in tech, but it is scalable and portable, as Java must be run through a cross-platform compatible so-called Java Virtual Machine (JVM).

In addition, several popular indexes measuring the popularity of programming languages, Java is constantly ranked in the top. For example, according to Go Java, there are over 12 millions software developers programming in Java, while Oracle estimates that there are more than 9 million Java developers worldwide.

Java is considered to be beginner-friendly and simple to use high-level programming language. A high-level language (HLL) programming language are called high-level because they are closer to human languages and further from machine languages, making them easier to read, write, and maintain. The so-called compiler handles the translation into machine language.

It’s easy to get started coding in Java and everything you need is available for free online. In addition, Java is platform-independent, which means that you can run Java on all operating systems such as Mac, Windows or Linux.

According to Glassdoor, in 2022 the estimated total pay for a Java Developer is $109,387 per year in the United States area, with an average salary of $92,656 per year. Indeed has a similar estimation, with the average salary for a java developer is $114,919 per year in the United States and $6,500 cash bonus per year.

If we summarise the above, four reasons you should consider learning Java

According to Popularity of Programming Languages (PYPL), Python and Java are two of the most popular programming languages.

When it comes to building programs for data analysis and processing, many data scientists are favoring Python and R. However, frameworks like as Apache Spark, Kafka, Hadoop, Hive, Cassandra, and Flink, all operate on the JVM (Java Virtual Machine) and are critical in the Big Data field.

Let’s compare some aspects for Java vs Python in Data Science

• Frameworks: Both Java and Python provide a good collection of built-in libraries which can be used for data analytics, data science, and machine learning. Python comes with a huge number of inbuilt libraries for machine learning and artificial intelligence. While many of the popular Big Data frameworks have strong foundations in Java, such as Apache Spark and Cassandra
• Performance: Java is faster than Python. Python is an interpreted language, meaning that it reads the code line by line. As a result, performance in terms of speed is often slower. Another speed advantage Java has is that Java is capable of handling multiple computations simultaneously, which also adds to its speed
• Easy to Learn: While both Java and Python are considered beginner friendly, Python is considered to be the easier one to learn. New programmers can start writing code quicker in Python

To conclude, both of these programming languages have their benefits in terms of Data Science. I would say that it comes down selecting a programming language based on your experiences and/or the organisation’s requirements. Due to its ease of use and large library for machine learning and artificial intelligence, Python has gained more popularity in the field of Data Science

Similar to Python, Java has a range of libraries for working with Data Science

Apache Spark

Apache Spark, or just Spark, is one of the most popular tools in the big data field. It’s an open-source framework developed by Apache that is used for big data storage, processing, and analysis. Apache Spark comes with a group of tools that can be used for various features, such as structured data, graph data processing, and Machine Learning analysis.

Apache Mahout

Apache Mahout is an open-source project mainly used to build scalable machine learning algorithms. Mahout applies popular machine learning techniques such as classification, clustering, and recommendation. In addition, Mahout uses the Apache Hadoop library to scale effectively in the cloud.

Deeplearning4J

Deeplearning4J is an open-source framework that provides a set of tools for working with deep learning algorithms. The Deeplearning4J framework include extensive support in building, training, and deploying neural networks.

Java-ML

Java Machine Learning library has a large collection of machine learning and data mining algorithms. The algorithms can, for example, be used for data preprocessing, feature selection, classification and clustering. Java ML is a general-purpose machine learning library.

Java Statistical Analysis Tool (JSAT)

Java Statistical Analysis Tool (JSAT) is another Java library which contains a lot of implementations of commonly-used machine learning algorithms. JSAT is a library for quickly getting started with machine learning problems

There are plenty of free resources available online to learn Java

1. Codecademy

Codecademy is perhaps my favourite resource for learning to code and probably one of the best places to learn Java online. Codecademy has interactive exercises with immediate feedback. Many of the courses are beginner-friendly and self-paced, giving you the flexibility to learn when it suits you.

Check out the course: Learn Java at Codecademy

2. Tutorialspoint

Tutorialspoint is very helpful for both beginners and experienced programmers. I like the number of examples on Tutorialspoint and think the walkthrough of different parts of Java are explained clearly and well.

Here is the link the Java Tutorial at Tutorialspoint

3. Youtube: Java Tutorial for Beginners

A great Youtube video lesson on Java by Mose Hamdenai from CodeWithMosh. In the 2.30 hour long free course you will learn the basics of Java, including: How to write your first Java program, data types, variables, operators, class, method, and object-oriented programming, and many more.

Here is the link to the video lesson

4. CodingBat

On CodingBat, you can practice Java coding and solve problems. The site is exercise based. Although you might need to complement with another book or site, for example Tutorialspoint, to get an introduction to Java, CodingBat is a great place to practice solving coding problems. 

Here is the link to CodingBat

5. Sololearn

Sololearn uses a gamification approach to their learning. You will learn the fundamentals of object-oriented Java programming. Sololearn also has a great mobile app that you can use in connection with the website.

Check out the Java section at Sololearn

6. Programiz

Similar to tutorialspoint, Programiz is useful for both beginners and experienced professionals. The tutorials and the examples are well worked and the site has a good structure to learn Java.

Check out Java Programming at Programiz

7. Code-Knowledge

I included this site because I think it explains programming in Java in a clear and beginner friendly way. I think code-knowledge has nice visualizations and uses a beginner friendly language.

Check out Code Knowledge

Udemy

Udemy has a ton of courses related to Java. But, if I would recommend a course on Udemy it would be “The Complete Java Masterclass” by Tim Buchalka is a great one with top ratings, a 4.6/5.0 from over 159.000 ratings.

AAlthough it’s not free, Udemy often has flash sales where you can get the course for a lot cheaper. When completed, the course provides a certificate to indicate that you have completed the Java course, that you can add to your resume or Linkedin profile

Here is the link if you want to check out the course The Complete Java Masterclass at Udemy

Coursera

Similar to Udemy, Coursera has a ton of great Java courses (and a lot of other different programming languages and topics). Highlighting one of them would be the The “Object Oriented Programming in Java Specialisation” from Duke University that is a comprehensive way to learn how to solve more complex problems through object-oriented design with Java.

However, for this specialisation it’s recommended to have some programming experience in at least one other programming language (e.g., Python, C, JavaScript, etc.) before enrolling.  

Read more about the specialisation here: Object Oriented Programming in Java Specialisation

Some general advice:

• Free resources online: Start with free resources online, they are great. In general, the online resources to learn computer programming are endless, and there’s always tutorial, or blog explanation, that can help you. Then as you progress you can look at the paid resources.
• Take action: Your time and energy should be to start – to take action – not planning and spending too much time decide which resource to use. They majority are good, just pick the one that you think seems nice and you can’t go wrong, and if that would happen, just switch
• Learn by doing. Programming is about solving problems, and the code is your toolbox to solve a problem. To learn how to use that toolbox you must practice, practice and practice, not only watching others do it. So don’t just watch videos and do quizzes, the sooner you start playing with the code, the faster you will learn the given concepts. For example, I had my own project that I used when I learned Java. It was a simple (very simple) game that in Java, it was a great way for me to learn java programming
• Start with fundamentals: Programming fundamentals always need to come first. The better you understand them, the easier it is to learn the more advanced concepts