Can I Learn Java On My Own?

Java coding is a complex technical skill that is easy to start using but difficult to master. Basic Java is relatively easy to learn, with only a few challenging core techniques. Most novices can teach themselves Java's fundamental concepts, commands, syntax, and techniques using lessons from textbooks or video tutorials. Such early fluency, in which programmers type out every line of code, is called basic or ‘vanilla’ Java. Basic Java can suffice to write simple web, mobile, or desktop applications, but is impractical when creating industry-quality products like server code, business apps, enterprise software, and machine learning systems. 

To surpass these basic skills, students must learn the advanced techniques and assistive tools that professional Java coders use to program efficiently and create fast, compact, secure, and fully-featured programs. Advanced Java lessons take more time and effort than introductory study, due to the complexity of advanced techniques and the wide range of available tools. Learning which techniques and tools to use for a given project and how to use them correctly requires careful study and extended practice with repeated exercises and practical projects. While it may be possible to learn advanced Java on your own, solo study requires increasingly more time and stronger motivation. Achieving full professional programming ability is especially difficult when studying alone. Compared to students enrolled in a live Java course, students working alone will find it more difficult to gather all the necessary information, test their knowledge, practice key techniques, identify and correct their errors, stay motivated, and avoid frustrations. Receiving lessons and guidance from an expert instructor simplifies and speeds up any part of Java study, and live courses often include additional benefits like individual mentoring and career guidance.

Advantages to Self-Teaching Java

Self-guided study has two major advantages compared to formal instruction. First, self-guided study is far less expensive, largely due to the absence of a live instructor. Some Java tutorials are available for free, such as videos on social media sites, sample lessons provided by coding and technical schools, and virtual textbooks and interactive lessons on Java-specific sites. On-demand classes, sold by general and technical education websites, are presented as pre-recorded lectures supplemented by texts. On-demand classes cost less compared to live instruction, although they can vary widely in price depending on whether they are sold individually, as course bundles, or on a subscription basis.

Second, self-guided study is more convenient, since students are not bound to a class schedule. Students can study both free resources and on-demand classes whenever they are available. They can study for as long as they wish, take breaks whenever they need them, and even repeat or skip lessons as needed. Experienced students can avoid material they don’t need to repeat, and students seeking only certain skills can skip the lessons they don’t need. This freedom is especially helpful for students with limited or irregular schedules due to work or other responsibilities. It is also valuable for students who need more study and practice time between lessons or those who want to accelerate their studies for faster completion. 

Java Self-Teaching Tools

Self-guided Java learning resources include physical or digital textbooks, interactive websites, and video tutorials. Thanks to Java’s long history and continued popularity, free Java resources are available from many sources, but each source has advantages and disadvantages. 

Creators share free Java tutorials on social media sites like YouTube. These videos include introductions to Java, descriptions of specific projects like writing mobile applications, guidance for common problems when coding in Java, or explanations of particular Java tools like coding frameworks. Such video tutorials are plentiful and free to view, but their instructional quality and accuracy are not guaranteed and vary with their creators’ abilities. Videos on social media are also usually disorganized, requiring students to find the connections between lessons. Few video lessons include any practice projects, and even when they do, they cannot evaluate students’ results. In fact, the biggest drawback of learning from social media posts is the lack of any significant feedback. At best, students might get replies in comments or on message boards, but mostly, they must research answers and correct errors by themselves. These limitations make social media videos a poor option for complete or professional education in Java. At best, some videos can introduce Java, helping new students decide what they want to learn in more depth. Other videos can answer specific questions for more experienced programmers.

Technical training platforms like Coursera and Udemy also offer free video tutorials, as do online coding schools like Codecademy and freeCodeCamp. Some teaching websites even function as interactive tutors, automatically grading students’ responses to coding exercises. Both of these sources have considerably better quality, organization, examples, and practice problems compared to lessons shared on social media. However, most teaching sites limit their free lessons in some way, usually offering their free resources as a sample to encourage students to purchase a complete course. Still, most teaching sites offer enough materials to equal an introductory Java course, as lessons intended to prepare students for more advanced study. Their free lessons are rarer for professional-level Java training, specifically for advanced and project-specific techniques and tools. Aside from automated grading, teaching sites also provide minimal feedback for their free resources. Together, these drawbacks make it difficult for students to acquire complete, professional-level Java training from free tutorials. 

Another source of free resources is Java-specific websites, which include Learn Java Online, CodeGym, and the hypertext Java tutorial on Oracle’s website. These sites usually offer only text lessons with some interactive features, but they are better organized than social media videos and frequently include more advanced lessons than the free offerings from school websites. Being specifically written by expert Java programmers, these lessons also tend to be of high quality. However, these sites still lack significant feedback, and their lessons require considerable effort and time from students who want more than a basic understanding of Java.

A final option for self-guided training is paid, on-demand study, also known as self-paced or asynchronous learning. On-demand classes are sold by many online schools in the form of pre-recorded video lessons supported by written materials. A few schools also feature interactive websites and applications. In return for their cost, on-demand classes offer several benefits over free resources. First, on-demand classes are well organized, often bundled into formal courses including introductory, advanced, and complete professional programs. Some on-demand schools sell classes specifically in these bundles, while others allow individual class purchases. Still others provide access on a subscription basis, where students can access any classes they want within their purchased time frame. Second, on-demand schools supplement their lessons with feedback through combinations of message boards, chat, email, or phone contact with advisors. While not as regular and direct as the feedback provided by a live instructor, these options are better than for any free resource. Students in on-demand courses are usually also provided with free or discounted software downloads. Although such tools are rarely expensive for Java, it can be helpful to have them highlighted and easily available. Third, on-demand lessons tend to be of good quality, comparable to technical schools, although their quality varies across different schools, instructors, and courses. Finally, unlike most free resources, on-demand schools include some form of evaluation, can provide certificates verifying students’ accomplishments, and sometimes offer career guidance and placement help for graduates.

Drawbacks to Learning Java on Your Own

Studying Java on your own gives you greater flexibility and lowers your educational costs, but sacrifices the advantages of learning directly from a skilled instructor. Although some free and on-demand lessons are created by experts, those creators are no longer available after their lesson is written or recorded. Self-guided studies lack the continued guidance, alternate explanations, additional examples, and skilled review of a live instructor. Free resources, in particular, provide nearly no feedback. On-demand courses may include some contact with teachers, but students must still wait for responses or advisor appointments. Without regular feedback, students must pause to research missing information or to identify their coding errors. Misunderstandings can persist longer, interfering with new learning, and students get fewer confirmations of their right answers and accomplishments. These difficulties are not as significant in a short, introductory class — though they can be frustrating for beginners — but will create increasing nuisances and delays in longer, more advanced courses. 

Beyond an instructor, self-guided study also lacks several other useful features. Most significantly, self-guided study provides less career guidance and assistance. Free resources may include some career advice but cannot counsel students individually or provide assistance like portfolio building or interview practice. Some on-demand schools do provide career guidance and placement assistance, but this help varies by school, and again, pre-recorded lessons cannot help students with their portfolio projects or provide timely advice. Another problem among both free and on-demand lessons is their currency. Videos and texts are only as current as their recording date, and even if they are updated regularly, they can never keep up with the knowledge of a live, expert instructor. Finally, evaluations are less complete and helpful in self-guided study compared to live instruction. Free resources rarely provide any evaluation criteria except perhaps automated code checks on interactive websites. On-demand classes have automated tests, but students need only meet a minimum necessary score, and they rarely get detailed feedback about their responses. In both types of study, students get minimal confirmation of their progress and little help with their deficits.

The other major advantage of self-guided study, its convenience, can also create drawbacks. Without a fixed class schedule, students are not required to work at a steady pace and often take much longer to complete self-guided lessons compared to live classes of the same type. Some students get distracted when studying at home and find the immediacy of classroom study helpful for maintaining their attention. When these distractions are combined with delays due to limited feedback, students can become demotivated, frustrated, and further slowed, especially in longer and more complex courses. Some students must even abandon their study plans due to lack of time, or in the case of some on-demand classes, the expiration or increasing cost of access. Another problem with the freedom offered by self-guided study is the consistency of training. Students can skip or speed through lessons, potentially missing necessary concepts. At best, they might backtrack to find what was missed, but at worst, they could become confused or even unaware of their omissions. 

Self-guided studies, then, pose significant challenges for students seeking a thorough education in Java or sufficient professional skills to qualify for work as a Java coder. For introductory students or experienced coders, the disadvantages of self-guided resources are less significant but can still create problems, especially if this learning format conflicts with a student’s learning style. For longer courses, the problems of self-guided lessons — uncertain quality, lack of feedback, and weaker motivation — can create increasing frustrations, mistakes, and delays. In the worst cases, studying on their own can defeat students’ educational goals.

Alternatives to Learning Java on Your Own

The alternative to learning on your own is learning with a live instructor, which requires paid, formal, scheduled classes. Students can attend live classes either in person at a classroom site or online via video streaming like Zoom. In-person study offers the easiest interaction with instructors and other students, and classrooms can directly provide computer hardware and software and printed course materials. However, in-person classes are limited to the class sites students can reach, which then reduces their available class types, instructors, and schedules. Online classes, by comparison, do require students to provide their own computers and find quiet space for attendance and study. However, by removing the limitation of geography, online study gives students more options for schools, instructors, classes, and schedules. 

Live classes do require that students commit to a fixed class schedule, which can be a challenge. However, schools will often offer multiple scheduling options to accommodate more students’ needs. A class schedule can even be beneficial for many students since it motivates them to complete readings and exercises on time. Formal, shared classes also help some students maintain their focus and learn better via personal interaction.

The primary asset of live classes is the instructor themselves. For Java classes, the instructor is usually an experienced programmer as well as a proven teacher. This instructor creates an orderly syllabus to guide students through lessons but can also adapt their lessons to give alternate explanations and examples as needed. Instructors guide their students through coding practice and practical projects, helping them build fluency with difficult techniques and correcting their mistakes. Compared to self-guided students, students assisted by an instructor are less likely to remain uncertain or confused for long, increasing their ability to grasp new topics and speeding their progress. While greater speed and comfort may be more a convenience than a necessity for introductory Java classes, these advantages are essential for effectively completing advanced classes and professional training courses. A further benefit of live classes is the presence of other students. In any live class, shared space allows students to help one another, and in programming classes, students can practice collaborating on team coding projects.

Learn Java with Noble Desktop

NextGen Bootcamp hosts their Java Programming Summer Program both live online and in-person in New York City. This bootcamp course teaches professional Java coding to high school and college students. On a full-time schedule, this course takes about two weeks, beginning with an introduction to programming that grounds each concept with its corresponding uses in Java. Students then learn more complex topics like file management, object-oriented programming, and recursion. In addition to in-class instruction, students receive a proprietary workbook, complete practical projects, and can review the recordings after each class session. After completing this program, students receive a verified digital certificate.

For adult learners, Noble Desktop offers online Java Private Tutoring in three-hour increments. This instruction is 1-on-1 and personalized to each student. Though designed primarily for beginners with little or no programming experience, this tutoring program progresses quickly to higher-level programming concepts and includes a complete, original project suitable for a starting portfolio. This course also prepares students for further computer science studies.

Students who are interested in Java primarily for its use in web development might prefer Noble Desktop’s Full Stack Web Development Certificate program. This professional training program is held in person in New York City and also available live online, for either full-time or part-time study. Students need no prior programming experience, as the course begins with an introduction to web development and its most important languages, HTML and CSS. The instructor follows this introduction with more advanced lessons on HTML and CSS, front end web development tools, and JavaScript and its commonly used web development libraries. The program concludes with additional lessons and career guidance for the web development industry. This program includes ten 1-on-1 mentoring sessions to further assist students, proprietary workbooks, multiple portfolio projects, and a certificate of completion. Graduates may retake the course once for free for up to one year.

Python is another high-level, general-purpose programming language used for many of the same projects as Java. Students seeking employment in fields like web development, software engineering, or data analysis should consider studying Python in addition to Java. Noble Desktop’s Python Developer Certificate program is a complete professional training course offered in-person in New York City or live online anywhere. This course requests that students have prior experience coding in HTML and CSS such as taught in an introductory web design or web development class. This knowledge is needed in the program’s second unit, which teaches web development using Python, following an introductory unit that introduces Python’s fundamental terms, syntax, and techniques. Students may choose one of three bonus units to conclude their Python studies: Data Science, Data Visualization, or Machine Learning. The complete program takes several weeks of full-time study but includes several portfolio-quality projects and four 1-on-1 mentoring sessions to help with difficult topics or career preparation. Students also receive a certificate upon completion and may retake the course once for free within one year.