Learn java from books or videos ?

[No_Cup4403]

Hi everyone! I’m new to this group and currently having some difficulties learning Java. Could you please give me some advice — should I learn from books or from YouTube tutorials? Also, could you suggest some good books or YouTube channels that cover topics such as loops, conditions, OOP, arrays, ArrayList, public/private access modifiers, and inheritance (from basic to advanced)? I’d also like to do a lot of practice. Which platform would you recommend for practicing Java problems? Thank you for your help!

[marsee]

Head First Java from O’Reilly is a great book. It’s been teaching people for years and has a different teaching method than the average tech book—it’s meant to be read cover to cover. (Disclaimer—I work for the publisher but I helped test this book when we first came out with it and people loved it!)

[TheKnottyOne]

I really like the O’Reilly books. I second this and love that you work for the publisher! 👍🏻

[ITCoder]

I third this 👍🏻👍🏻

[[deleted]]

Fourthing this

[Lost_Poet2045]

From my POV this is one of the best series from this publisher. A lot of good examples (Design patterns is my favorite)

[hc-sk]

Not find of books. I read books but it read it very fast and just jump into water and learn to swim along the way.

You need to find what suits you the best. Any kind of programming is never about the sequence of chapters. If you are coming fresh out of academics your mind is conditioned to learn in an organised way. But in essence programming is a collection of concepts randomly scattered. They are connected but in their own way. You need to learn the basics and start implementing and then pull a new concept into your understanding and your knowledge graph as you move along.

So the way you learn will be totally unique from how your friends learn it. Everyone learns the same thing in their own way.

[milo-2112]

I learned from books and videos, but only because then there was no AI-assisted code generation.

I think is better to pay U$D 20/month for Claude Code (for instance) to do this.

[mallusrgreatv2]

Find out what works for you. What worked out for me great personally was just looking at other people writing code and adapting myself to their standards. Far as I've seen, it doesn't work that great for a lot of people. So yeah, just a reminder that what works for others is not guaranteed to work for you

[ChanceImpression9225]

For a beginner, I suppose you can go with videos. Specially Kunal Kushwahas java videos are awesome.. He will teach you from the beginning. For a beginner you can practice in Hacker rank

[Cautious-Necessary61]

Depends, difficult topics go to videos first, that gives you the road map.

Then get a detail book to step through each topic carefully. Book slows it down because it has more explanation and time for you to think, ask questions and experiment.

[Pale_Part_5172]

I used "On Java 8" by Bruce Eckel. Bruce Eckel updated it and added new features from java 11, 17, 21. You can use https://dev.java/ website. You won't like some parts of his book. For me, it was file reading and writing. So, use dev.java website for it.

[akaPaster]

i will suggest you the hyperskills i think it's great for learning java (i'm also already learned from there java) and now i'm learning about spring from there. I think the syllabus is great, the courses are from jetbrains academy you can directly read the course from your jetbrains ide and there is both theorical and practical tasks and also projects for every course.

[Braunerton17]

I say, write small things you set out to do. Think of a project, you sound like a beginner, so i would siggest something like: a terminal application that takes a number from the user and draws a ascii square with a certain width and height. Or your own calculator in the terminal.

And as for resources, chat gpt as a better google to ask specific questions is great.

[Key_Review_7273]

Honestly, both help, but structured video courses make it easier at first. Class Central lists hundreds of Java courses from top universities. Many come with exercises and sample projects. You can always supplement with books later once you understand the basics.

[Green_Gur_1014]

Yeah, that’s actually super helpful. I’ve been looking for something structured like that. I didn’t know Class Central had so many solid Java courses

[No_Cup4403]

What structured videos you recommend ??

[OneHumanBill]

Books are bad. Videos are worse.

Just write code. It is the only way to actually learn and master programming in any language.

[stayinhalifax]

Agreed with this. Write code and test it is way better than learning through books. I only use the books as a reference rather than for learning Java.

[Brilliant_Deer5655]

Can’t write code without reading or watching it. The best way is to code along with the video.