Fastest way to become a Java Developer
This blog will break down the skills from the Software Developer learning track you must focus on.
Java Programming Language
In this track, you should start off learning the Java Programming language. Here, you will need to learn about the basic building blocks of a programming language such as loops, control flow, and data types, and understand how to implement them with the help of Java. Java is special because of the fundamental concepts it includes such as Classes, Objects, and Interfaces. So learning these concepts and understanding the principles behind them is very important.
Java is also famous for the support of critical features like file processing and exception handling, which you will require in almost every software development project. Make sure you get a good grasp of these concepts by learning them thoroughly and building projects using them. Because this practical approach to Java will help you master programming in an easy and fun way. Believe it or not, once you cover the topics we have discussed till now, you will become so much more confident with Java.
Next up, you need to master practical Java development. Now, what do I mean by that? Well, you need to learn the unique selling points of the Java language itself like the collections, generics, multithreading, JDBC, and lambda expressions. And again the best way to master these topics are by building more projects which involve real-world problem. These types of projects where you build a practical application that lets you handle data, for example, will make you understand the real power of the Java language.
Databases + SQL
By now you will become strong in Java language, its syntax, and programming concepts. Well, next you need to learn databases and the SQL language. Remember that every application needs a database to store data persistently. That’s why databases are a must to learn a skill for software developers. SQL is also critical because it is the data interaction language through which you handle the application’s data.
Now, there are two popular options for choosing database software which is Oracle and Postgres. So, pick a database software of your choice, and learn how to set them up on your computer. Then you can start off learning how you can use SQL to create tables, and perform the CRUD operations where CRUD stands for Create, Read, Update, and Delete. Once you do that, you will understand the real benefits of databases.
Object-oriented design principle
Okay, once you learn databases and SQL, what next? Next, you need to learn about Object-oriented design. This is a very nerdy concept that is required for developing software with an object-oriented language like Java. Why “nerdy”? Well, the real craftsmanship of a software developer is in software design skills. Here’s where you will evolve from being just a programmer to a software developer.
In Object-oriented design, you need to learn the five core design principles popularly known by the acronym “SOLID”. They are:
- Single Responsibility Principle
- Open-Closed Principle
- Liskov Substitution Principle
- Interface Segregation Principle
- Dependency Inversion Principle
Once you learn these design principles, you can apply these concepts to understand some practical design problems you can find online and that will make you a “SOLID” software developer.
Spring framework with Linux and Docker
Now we will move on to the exciting part of this learning track. You get to use the combined knowledge of Java, and SQL, to learn the Spring framework. Spring is the most popular framework in the Java ecosystem with over 90% of enterprise Java applications built using Spring. So, you can’t call yourself a complete Java Developer without having experience developing using the Spring framework.
You will need to cover concepts like Spring MVC, Spring AOP, Spring Security, Thymleaf, and Hibernate. Not only that, I will recommend you to go beyond this and learn how to design and build an industry-ready application, and learn how to deploy a project on a production-grade AWS server containerized using Docker.
Now, Docker is a very popular tool nowadays to containerize your applications so that you can officially write once and run everywhere. With Docker, you can create a virtual image of all the necessary components that your application needs to run on any operating system and you can just send that package off to anyone and they’ll be able to run it.
And you also need to learn about the basics of Linux commands. Now you don’t need to be a Linux expert or anything. Learn the 20% of the most important Linux commands that gets you 80% of the job done. And by the time learn Linux and Docker, you’ll know just enough knowledge about production to be very proficient in the industry setting.
You may be curious about what type of project you should be building, right?
Well, I will recommend you build a project that solves a problem statement. One such example can be to build a project management tool where managers can assign employees various projects, and track the stages of the project with an infographic to know how many projects are present in the pipeline. Trust me, projects like this where you solve a real-world problem statement are far better than building to-do apps, Twitter clones, and so on.
Front-end knowledge
Moving on, now, I will recommend you learn a little bit of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript for the front-end knowledge but that’s a cakewalk. You can learn these technologies in a week, trust me. After this, you can learn any front-end frameworks like React, Angular, or Vue JS of your choice. These libraries and frameworks are very useful to handle the front-end components. But, the front end is not as crucial as the back end in my opinion.
You see, the Spring framework completes you as a professional Software developer in Java. You will become so strong with the back-end concepts and learn how you can solve real-world problems with software development knowledge. So, keep that in mind while you learn these front-end technologies by yourself. Because there are a lot of templates and website builders that are readily available for you to play around with.
Apache Spark
Next up, you can wrap up this learning track by learning a hot and trending big data skill like the Apache Spark technology. You see, from my industry knowledge of deploying various clusters in a distributed production environment using a variety of technologies like Hadoop, Cassandra, and ElasticSearch, Apache Spark is my favorite one to work with, why is that? It is the next-generation batch and stream processing engine because it is proven to be the fastest big data technology.
Ever heard about Netflix? They use Apache spark extensively to build out their Machine Learning pipelines which recommend users with binge-worthy content every second. So, the demand for Apache Spark has skyrocketed in recent years, and having this technology in your resume is truly a game-changer.
So, Apache Spark comes with various Java dataset APIs to slice and dice data, and also you can apply them to various data transformation techniques. You will need to learn how to configure Spark jobs to run on the cloud and learn about performance tuning to scale out your clusters with big data. You can also get your hands dirty by learning Machine learning algorithms with Apache Spark to perform data clustering and classification. Once you learn the key concepts I will now recommend you build several practical Spark applications to gain practical knowledge.
All right, I hope you are now pumped up about the Software developer learning track.
Time Required for learning track
Let me share the time frame that’s required to go through this learning track. Now it varies for different people as you may be a beginner or have intermediate knowledge of tech.
So, I will recommend that you spend three to four months learning the Java language. Dedicate two to three months to learning SQL and databases. Spend one month covering the software design concepts. Work on Spring and cool projects for two to three months. Then, two to three weeks learning front-end technologies. And finally, one more month to learn Apache Spark. Okay, that sums up one year of dedication and hard work to become a professional software developer in Java who is equipped to solve real-world software problems.
So there you go. That’s the complete breakdown of the Software Developer learning track with the time frame required to complete it. Go on and start learning with this newfound knowledge.
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About the Author
Imtiaz Ahmad is an award-winning Udemy Instructor who is highly experienced in big data technologies and enterprise software architectures. Imtiaz has spent a considerable amount of time building financial software on Wall St. and worked with companies like S&P, Goldman Sachs, AOL and JP Morgan along with helping various startups solve mission-critical software problems. In his 13+ years of experience, Imtiaz has also taught software development in programming languages like Java, C++, Python, PL/SQL, Ruby and JavaScript. He’s the founder of Job Ready Programmer — an online programming school that prepares students of all backgrounds to become professional job-ready software developers through real-world programming courses.
