What is the Fastest Way to Learn Java?

Some students need to gain a new skill as quickly as possible. They may need that skill to start a new project for themselves or an employer. They might be seeking a new career or a promotion. Some students simply have a limited time window for learning, like a break or deadline. While several types of courses offer fast study, a course’s actual length will depend, in part, on its educational goals and the depth of its covered material. How quickly each student can learn will also depend on their learning goals, their previous experience, and their fit to a course’s instructional style. This article lists the fastest formats for learning Java and discusses what types of students will best benefit from each format.

Free Resources: For Basics and Topics

Free Java resources are widely available in libraries, on hypertext and interactive websites, and as online video tutorials. Video lessons about Java appear on social media sites like YouTube, general education sites like Udemy, and technical education sites like Codecademy. These resources can be valuable either for beginners or for experienced Java programmers. Beginners can find introductions to Java and answers to their early questions, and free resources are a fast way to start learning Java, especially for dedicated and resourceful students. Skilled programmers can use free resources to quickly learn about new Java coding tools, advanced techniques, or methods for specific projects. 

Unfortunately, free means no extras, and free resources have several drawbacks for other kinds of students. Video lessons on social media have no guarantee of instructional quality or accuracy, and their value depends on the knowledge and ability of their creators. Social media also rarely provides an organizational structure for separate videos, so students have to assemble their own learning plan and hope there are few gaps. Although educational sites usually provide organized, higher-quality lessons, their free content is often limited, meant to serve as samples to encourage students to purchase longer courses. Most critical to long-term study, free resources provide little or no direct feedback. Students must research answers and correct errors on their own and must check other sources to get any alternate explanations.

Free resources, then, can give beginning Java students a fast start and provide helpful guidance to users already familiar with Java. However, their limitations will slow or halt progress for long-term students pursuing intermediate and advanced topics. Students who want a complete understanding of Java, especially those who want to learn Java as a professional skill, are not best served by free resources. Without help, searching for missing topics, correcting mistakes and misunderstandings, and maintaining strong motivation all take time and cause unnecessary frustrations. A formal course with a skilled, knowledgeable instructor and a supportive school environment avoids these problems and helps students reach greater proficiency faster.

Introductory Classes: To Build Fluency with Java

Short introductory Java classes teach students core programming skills and build enough fluency to manage more advanced and applied topics later. A live introductory Java class, especially one presented by a professional training school like Noble Desktop, can accomplish this goal quickly, in just a few hours over one or two full days or several shorter class days. An introductory class should teach Java’s commands, syntax, and core techniques, including the methods of object-oriented programming. A thorough introduction should also include examples of Java’s applications. Some introductory Java classes assume no prior programming experience and teach basic computer science principles using examples from Java. At the end of an introductory Java class, students should be able to create simple but functional programs. This level of instruction is usually sufficient for casual users or students exploring Java for the first time. An introduction may also be a convenient starting point for extended study due to its shorter length and more frequent scheduling.

Being skill-oriented, introductory Java classes tend to omit Java’s history, comparisons to other programming languages, assistive tools like development environments and frameworks, and more recent updates. Most Java introductions also do not demonstrate specific projects like web or mobile applications. However, there are exceptions: some topical introductory classes focus on particular applications of Java. For example, an “Introduction to Java for Web Development” might focus on using Java to write web applications. Students who want to learn more about Java, particularly the techniques and tools coders use for a wider range of tasks, will either need additional, advanced Java classes or else a longer, more complete course like a bootcamp or certificate program. 

Bootcamps: Toward Professional Skill

Some students need more in-depth training in Java than an introduction provides but less than in a complete degree or certificate program. These students may be job seekers, working professionals, or aspiring developers who need professional-level skill in a particular application of Java but not a total education in the subject. Live courses called bootcamps best fit these requirements, providing introductory training plus limited advanced lessons focused on particular projects or career types. For example, a Java bootcamp might teach Java specifically for data analysis, web development, or mobile app development. Students who complete a bootcamp are well-prepared to use their skills in a professional environment, although primarily for entry-level positions. Additionally, most bootcamps provide career support like portfolio help, employment and interview advice, and employer contacts.

Bootcamps are also accelerated programs, meaning that they present their material quickly. Live instruction supports this speed by providing students with fast feedback and an extra incentive to stay current with course objectives. Students must complete practice work outside of class to keep up with new topics. Due to their focused nature, bootcamps also move smoothly from introductory to advanced topics. While a Java bootcamp is longer than any short course, usually lasting several weeks on a full-time schedule, this duration is still shorter than its equivalent in multiple short courses. A bootcamp is also much shorter than a degree or certificate program. Thus, bootcamps are an effective way to learn Java for practical use within a manageable time frame and cost range. The main drawbacks of bootcamps are their fast pace, which can be challenging for students who need more time for study and practice, and their exclusion of unrelated techniques and tools, which may limit students’ understanding and flexibility.

Certificate Granting Programs: For Aspiring Professionals

Students who need varied, thorough, professional training in Java but cannot afford the time or cost of a college degree program may be better served by professional training programs, also called certificate programs. These programs prepare students for employment as Java programmers, teaching all the coding skills needed for particular careers. Like bootcamps, certificate programs are usually focused on a particular project or job type, but certificate programs include the content of multiple bootcamp-level courses. The additional material in a Java certificate program adds advanced coding techniques and assistive tools like Java development environments, frameworks, and building and testing tools. Certificate programs also provide more examples, portfolio projects, and career guidance than bootcamps. At the end of a professional training program, students receive an accredited certificate, and most programs provide further mentorship meetings and job placement assistance. 

A Java certificate program usually requires multiple weeks of study, totaling two to three months on a full-time schedule, or multiple months for part-time students. While still shorter than a college degree program — or even a single semester’s class at a university — this is still a significant time commitment. Even so, Java certificate programs still must omit considerable detail, such as coding theory or the techniques and tools not used for that certificate program’s focus area. Students who want a more diverse understanding of Java might be better served by a comprehensive degree program. That aside, certificate programs do ensure that graduates are capable in their chosen area of study and ready for work in many related positions. 

On-Demand Courses: It’s Hard to Tell

Java students at all levels, from novices to experts, can also study online using pre-recorded video lessons supplemented by texts, in courses purchased from on-demand training programs. On-demand learning is also called self-paced or asynchronous learning since it allows students to study whenever they are available and work at their preferred pace. This model is helpful for students who have irregular schedules that conflict with live courses, limited free time for study, or difficulties with the format or speed of live instruction. Other students can progress through on-demand lessons faster than a live course if they have more free time, prior experience, or motivation. Note that on-demand students are solely responsible for their progress, and some individuals may slow or pause their studies if not careful, making their on-demand class longer than its live equivalent. On-demand classes also do not provide as much feedback, being limited to message boards, chats, or occasional phone or email contact with instructors. This limitation can further slow students’ progress as they wait or search for answers, struggle with errors, and revisit lessons to find missing information. For these reasons, it can be difficult to estimate the speed or length of an on-demand study program.

These problems tend to be most significant for longer and more in-depth courses, such as bootcamps or professional certificate programs. Limited feedback creates the most problems when moving from basic Java to more advanced techniques and longer programs. For such longer courses, on-demand study frequently takes longer than live instruction, especially for students who already have limited study time and then must pursue answers for every problem. On-demand programs also tend to provide less career support and guidance compared to live courses, and their material is less likely to be regularly updated and current. Still, for introductory students or advanced students studying specific topics, on-demand classes might progress faster than live classes, especially if those students are strongly motivated and resourceful.

Learn Java Skills with Noble Desktop

NextGen Bootcamp hosts a 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. The course takes about two weeks on a full-time schedule, beginning with an introduction to programming that grounds each concept with its corresponding uses in Java. Students then continue through lessons on more complex topics like file management, object-oriented programming, and recursion. In addition to class instruction, students receive a proprietary workbook, complete practical projects, and can review the recordings of 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, the tutoring program progresses quickly to higher-level programming concepts and includes a complete, original project suitable for a starting portfolio. Students can also use this course to prepare for further computer science studies.

Another high-level, general-purpose programming language, Python, is used for many of the same purposes as Java. Students interested in Java coding in fields like web development, software engineering, or data analysis might also want to learn Python. Noble Desktop offers two live online bootcamp courses on Python, available individually or as a single combined bootcamp: Python for Data Science and Python Machine Learning. 

Noble Desktop’s Python for Data Science Bootcamp has no prerequisites and begins with an introduction to Python itself. After covering the language’s core concepts, terms, and syntax, the course addresses coding techniques through sample tasks like data collection, analysis, and visualization. This bootcamp includes lessons on several related Python libraries: NumPy, Pandas, and Matplotlib. The Python Machine Learning Bootcamp may be taken separately but requires prior experience coding in Python and using its NumPy and Pandas libraries. This class teaches several machine learning algorithms through examples and projects coded in Python. It also addresses the theory and practice of machine learning, including data cleanup and organization, algorithm selection, and evaluation of learning performance. Both individual bootcamps take about one week on a full-time schedule, and each includes one 1-on-1 mentoring session with an instructor. The combined Python Data Science & Machine Learning Bootcamp, which takes around three to four weeks on a full-time schedule, covers both individual bootcamps and then adds additional units on automation in Python, advanced data visualization, and interactive elements. The combined bootcamp also includes four 1-on-1 mentoring sessions. All three bootcamps come with proprietary workbooks, award students a certificate upon completion, and may be retaken once within a year.