Every second web application and website is built on Java. The popularity of this programming language has grown dramatically over the past few years, bypassing even PHP. Thus, it is nowadays the best time to learn Java.
If you want to become Java developer, read our post to know what skills you need to develop and what resources you can use for that purpose. It is not enough to know java core to become a professional in Java; there are much more specs you should be aware of.
Required Knowledge
In order for you to proudly call yourself a Java developer, you need to have at least a common understanding of the following things:
- The syntax of the language, namely Java Core;
- Basics of Object-Oriented Programming;
- Database Basics (SQL);
- JDBC;
- Servlets + JSP;
- ORM (for example, Hibernate);
- Any popular Web-Framework (for example, Spring);
- HTML, CSS, JavaScript;
- VCS (GIT, SVM or the like)
Java Core
This includes knowledge and understanding of the class hierarchy in Java, methods of the Object class and, of course, the collection of frameworks. Otherwise, you will not be able to write quality code. To keep abreast of the things, we recommend you to read books on the basics of Java and only afterward study the specifications this programming language.
Proceed with reading the technical documentation. After studying one of the books such as “Java 8: The Complete Guide” by Shiltd, “The Philosophy of Java” by Eckel, read code samples outlined in the documentation. These should become a repository of knowledge for you.
Object-Oriented Programming & SQL
On top of that, you are to know how the JVM (Java Virtual Machine) works. It is recommended to study the principles of its operation on the specification of Oracle (Java Virtual Machine Specification). After knowing the basics of the language, start studying the databases and SQL. Here, you will be extremely helped by all the different guides (tutorials) and documentation. The book “MySQL 5.0” will be useful for you to understand how the SQL server is built and what operations it can perform.
Frameworks & Code
All frameworks also need to be studied according to the technical documentation. For each of them, you can find high-quality documentation. So it is enough to search for the relevant one. And the most important thing is read lots of Java code. If you do not want to study the code, then we have bad news for you. Reading the code is 70-80% of your work to become a professional Java developer.
Broaden Your Knowledge
We have extra advice for those who dream of becoming Java programmers. Regularly go to conferences organized by renowned companies. If there is an opportunity to sign the dev courses in one of the companies, just do it! This will increase your chances of reaching the goal at times.
