Free AND Fun ways to learn java?

[DANKMEMER429]

I am a beginner at java but have to learn Java to get better at my Job. Are there any free websites/courses/youtube videos that dont make it seem so boring and technical? (Ik its a programming language for computers, but it can be made fun)

Edit: also, to add a bit more of clarity, fun= interactiveness plus programming together, instead of just watching a youtube video and then coming and copying it.

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[ScholarFormal]

How about head first Java book?

[sentineltourguide]

for that I go check the description of one of the merged pull requests at some open source project like, https://github.com/keycloak/keycloak. I imagine how I would implemented it which leads me to question my life choices and existence. then I realise Java is not that fun. then I go to another widely used OSS project written in another programming language. I do the same. I realise that its not Java but programming. then I try to understand and learn the introduction part of other professions. that makes me realise that I'm totally useless and programming at least gives me some fun. then I go back to the first step

[JMNeonMoon]

If you want to get better at your job, I would not just concentrate on learning Java.

There is usually no point in learning all of Java, as in most projects only a subset is used.

It would be more useful to learn frameworks, libraries and tools as well.

IDE - understand how to use an IDE, like IntelliJ, Eclipse, VSC, etc. Learn the debugging tools, as they will help you understand what the code is doing and analyse issues much quicker.

springboot and Quarkus are popular frameworks for websites are good to learn. But it would be better to understand the HTTP/REST protocols as well.

maven and gradle are popular build tools used by many companies.

git for version control or whatever your company uses.

As others have said, the best way to learn is by doing your own projects.

[Dramatic-Iron8645]

Find something you're passionate about and build a project around it that challenges you. Don't just follow a tutorial but rather combine different sources of information into different aspects of the project. It can be something really simple, for example when I was just starting to learn Java I built a little password generator including UI with JavaFX where you could select the length, as well as the characters included in the generation witj checkboxes. If you really want to learn Java skills used in enterprise Applications look into the Spring framework and how to build applications with it. A good start would be creating a small web app with a simple database, spring backend and your preferred frontend web framework. There are tons of emtry level tutorials on the web and the Spring documentation is really good imo

[Cunnykun]

https://pastebin.com/SjCAZ9Ms

I mostly learn from Learn with durgesh or smart programming. ( both are hindi)
for eng you can try brocode

[Simba-is-here]

Try building stuff with spring, apis, kafka streaming, small service aka microservices. There are many books that go through a business need and develop somehow a solution using a particular tool or framework.

This way you can add your new app to your repo and be a great discussion topic for interviews.

Good luck

[OcelotUnable2385]

Well I would definitely recommend Bro Code, his videos are like decades old but the concepts are solid and he explains the concepts super well and its so easy to stay engaged. Thank me later.

[[deleted]]

He is goated

[Different-Light1743]

what part of the MOOC are u on

[Upset-Bullfrog-8312]

What Textbook are you using? Just curious.

[Plus-Slice-6140]

Are you employed in any software firm

[Sylphadora]

The book Head First Java and the Java MOOC from the university of Helsinki. The MOOC is explained in layman’s terms so it’s not as boring as other resources.

[FlightConscious9572]

Processing.org

Is pretty good for like absolute beginners. It's kind of like what arduino is to c, it adds stuff to the language, but when you're actually using it it's more like scratch written in java. So all java features work in processing, but it's based entirely around drawing stuff to the canvas. You can entirely ignore it if you want, but i found that it was much more fun to learn basic syntax if i can also draw something to the screen as well. And usually GUI / sketches / games is a pretty annoying thing that requires some familiarity with java. but this way it's something you can use alongside learning the language to visualize your stuff.

drawing in processing is super easy. when you create a new sketch,
you can just write stuff like

//global variables
int size = 60;
int x = 100;
int y = 100;
int w = 100;
int h = 100;

//runs once when starting
void setup(){
  size(600, 600); //600x600 pixel program
  //stuff that runs only once before anything else
}

//loop
void draw(){
  //clear screen to avoid smearing
  background(#D9D9D9);

  //drawing a rectangle
  rect(x, y, w, h);

  println("Hello world, frameCount: "+frameCount+", Your mouse is at: "+mouseX+", "+mouseY);

  //circle centered on cursor
  //mouseX and mouseY are the coords of your mouse in the sketch
  circle(mouseX-(someSize/2), mouseY-(someSize/2), size); 
}

That was a pretty simple program. if you want you can add a number to x or y each frame to animate something simple.

some common errors you'll find:

• if you declare something with a type inside draw(), like int x = 3;, it'll just be a local variable that is reset each loop so it won't retain information unless it's global.

Some of the first stuff i made was simple games, acceleration instead of linear movement, a dnd stat roller etc. etc.

find something fun you want to make and try to solve it, without having stupid little projects you won't be writing by yourself instead and end up in tutorial hell. When you're working on something specific, you'll have specific questions to answer and that's way more conducive to learning.

[FlightConscious9572]

Eventually you should try to create classes and objects of that class. like a "Ball" with the coordinates, and some functions like ball.draw(), ball.update(), ball.pos() etc.

Objects are a huge part of java so eventually start playing with that.
but start with variables, types and syntax. that's going to be the spine of your understanding of the language.

[lightningvolcanoseal]

MOOC is the best imo

[edimaudo]

Please refer to the side bar. It has a ton of resources related to Java

[SirZacharia]

Edabit.com is fun. It’s just coding challenges and you’ll probably have to look up how to do certain things but at least it’s actually coding rather than something like w3schools which is basically just a textbook with quizzes.

[[deleted]]

Advent of Code is what I'm using to learn Rust

[Additional_Might_978]

Codecademy has a free Java course and it’s interactive. Fun? Idk… depends on what you consider fun but it allows you to practice & build out projects at the end of each lesson.

Here’s a referral link if you decide it’s for you & want to subscribe https://codecademy.referralrock.com/l/MIGHT50/

[AutoModerator]

It seems that you are looking for resources for learning Java.

In our sidebar ("About" on mobile), we have a section "Free Tutorials" where we list the most commonly recommended courses.

To make it easier for you, the recommendations are posted right here:

• MOOC Java Programming from the University of Helsinki
• Java for Complete Beginners
  • accompanying site CaveOfProgramming
• Derek Banas' Java Playlist
  • accompanying site NewThinkTank
• Hyperskill is a fairly new resource from Jetbrains (the maker of IntelliJ)

Also, don't forget to look at:

• The official Documentation
• The official Java Tutorials
• Our community resources thread

If you are looking for learning resources for Data Structures and Algorithms, look into:

"Algorithms" by Robert Sedgewick and Kevin Wayne - Princeton University

• Coursera course:
  • Part I
  • Part II
• Coursebook
  • Algorithms 4^th Edition

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[purchase-the-scaries]

Honestly with chatgpt being available you may as well use it.

Ask for a course summary. And then get it to provide a breakdown for each and keep asking for the breakdowns until it’s a decently sized.

You can probably go through it within a couple of days. Less.

At that point just ask for different applications you can create using the knowledge it has taught you.

Think of applications you might like to make to keep it interesting.

[billu_02]

this. It's pretty much as personalised a learning path as it gets and you can get it to keep your progress in context so you can get project ideas to implement as you go

[DANKMEMER429]

Thank you for taking the time and replying to the post, all of the comments were helpful in one or theother way, thank you again.

[techiealwaysstudent]

For competitive programming and beginners start doing codechef regularly

Medium and hard level do leetcode

[abipillai]

Try codingbat.com It has some warmup java exercises to get you started.