Is Java a Hard Class?

Among modern programming languages, Java is relatively easy to learn. Computer scientists and working programmers consider Java no more difficult than commonly used languages like C++ or Python. Java has clear terminology and syntax and reasonably intuitive techniques, especially considering its security, efficiency, and power when used to its full potential. Still, novice students often consider computer programming a challenging subject. Learning to code requires concentration, logic, creativity, and frequent practice. Both views are valid. The difficulty of learning Java also varies depending on the level of knowledge a student requires. Picking up Java’s basic concepts, terms, syntax, and techniques is manageable for most students and even easier if they already know some computing fundamentals. After a few weeks of casual exploration or a few days of full-time study, most students can write simple web, mobile, or desktop applications in Java. 

Students interested in professional uses of Java will encounter more significant challenges as they learn to write efficient, complex, high-quality Java code. Advanced Java techniques, which increase programs’ clarity, robustness, speed, efficiency, and security, are more abstract and require extended examples and exercises to achieve clear comprehension. Some specific projects require specialized techniques and tools that must be learned separately and, again, practiced to build proficiency. Certain Java tools further improve programmers’ efficiency and help them avoid mistakes but require still further study to master. All these advanced topics are more difficult than learning basic Java, but with steady work and commitment, any student can overcome their difficulties, creating professional-quality products and working in Java-related fields like web or software development. 

What is Hard about Learning Java?

The first challenge novice Java students encounter is Java’s terminology and syntax. Novices must learn each element’s meaning and correct usage and then learn the proper formats for combining these elements. Like other programming languages, Java has strict syntactic requirements; given the smallest typing or planning error, programs will stop, malfunction, or simply fail to compile. Prior programming experience can help students grasp parallel concepts in Java and general syntactic rules, but Java has some unique elements. Java also benefits from abstraction, particularly in its use of object-oriented programming, which allows programmers to describe sections of code as ‘objects’ and reference them later for reuse. At first, these techniques can be unintuitive, needing clear explanations, varied examples, and lots of practice work to become familiar. 

After gaining this familiarity with Java’s core methods, students progress to combine those pieces, assembling more complex algorithms and increasingly useful programs. Coders must grasp not only how to combine parts properly but also what combinations will yield the behaviors they need for a given program. Each coding technique requires explanation, examples, and practice, and certain combinations of techniques need further examples to show their correct integration. Some techniques build on one another and must be studied in a particular order, particularly when explaining object-oriented programming. Many programming techniques require not only rote practice but also new ways of thinking. Certain techniques are particularly challenging due to their high abstraction, unintuitive behavior, or complexity; these methods are often omitted from introductory classes and some are even avoided in longer training programs, set aside for more advanced coursework. Even after becoming fluent with Java’s core structural techniques, continuing students must learn more sophisticated methods to increase speed, reduce processor and memory usage, and tighten security in their programs. Amateur Java programmers often create code that performs its desired functions but is bulky, slow, and insecure; professional coders can make the same program cleaner, faster, and more robust and write it faster.

Much of professional Java coders’ efficiency is produced by Java coding tools. Learning and practicing with these tools is another challenging part of long-term Java study. For example, rather than using a simple text editor, students should learn to use one or more integrated development environments (IDEs), which add guides, assistants, and other features that assist coding. Java also has many useful frameworks, libraries of pre-written code objects that add functionality when added to programs. Professional Java coders need to know and use several of these frameworks, especially the ones most relevant to their profession or project types. Java developers also benefit from build tools, which assist the compilation of Java code, and testing tools, which check if code will perform as intended. Most often, the advanced techniques and additional tools a student learns first are based on their educational and professional goals. For example, a Java student focusing on mobile software development might learn the Android Studio IDE, the Android Software Development Kit (a collection of libraries and tools for Android developers), and the Espresso testing tool.

Advanced Java students preparing to work in a related profession must also learn some non-Java skills. For example, collaborative programming tools like Git or Visual Studio are necessary for professionals working with teams on large development projects. Java coders, like all professional programmers, should practice writing clear, understandable, well-noted code so that it can be read and then edited or integrated by other users. Some Java developers explicitly create code components and frameworks to assist other users, making these communication skills especially important. Programmers also need to understand the complete product development process, from initial planning and design, through implementation in code, to performance and user testing, to final production. Knowing the development process is equally important whether a programmer is contributing to a team, working for a client, or creating products for themselves.

How Can I Make Learning Java Easier?

New Java students can overcome their initial challenges in several ways. One method is to explore computer science in general or programming in particular, especially by investigating other programming languages. Knowledge about comparable general-purpose computer languages like C++ or Python will carry over when starting to learn Java. Students interested in Java for web development work should first study HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, the languages used to create webpages. In fact, most training programs teaching Java for web development recommend learning these languages first, as a prerequisite. With this background, students will better understand Java’s uses within a web-based environment. Before starting a formal Java course, students can also familiarize themselves with Java itself using free online resources like texts, video tutorials, or interactive websites. Video tutorials on Java are available on YouTube or through school websites like Noble Desktop, Udemy, and Coursera. Some websites, including general coding sites like freeCodeCamp and Codecademy and dedicated Java sites like CodeGym and Oracle’s Java Tutorials, offer hypertext Java tutorials and interactive lessons. Students can review these lessons casually at first to learn Java’s basic ideas. Then, during their studies, students can return to these resources for additional explanations and exercises.

Free resources are generally best for introductory and supplemental study, rather than as a sole method of learning Java. For one reason, free tutorials provide no guarantees of accuracy or instructional quality. A given source of free lessons may not cover every topic a student needs for their educational goals. Worse, social media sources provide little structure or organization for their lessons. The most limiting problem with free tutorials is their lack of feedback. At best, students might get answers in comments, or an interactive website might verify if a student’s practice code functions as intended. Otherwise, the burden of researching answers, solving problems, and debugging code falls on the student. Contrast this absence with the thorough, organized, high-quality lessons and instructor feedback available through formal courses, which lessen students’ difficulties and speed up their learning.

As another learning format, on-demand classes provide more structure and better-quality instruction than free resources but are presented similarly through pre-recorded videos, interactive exercises, and electronic texts. On-demand schools do provide some feedback via email, phone, or chat contact with advisors plus message boards for student discussions. Like free resources, on-demand lessons can be completed whenever students are available, making them convenient for students with limited or irregular schedules. While they do require payment, on-demand lessons are less expensive than live instruction. For early Java students, this learning method is generally effective, especially if they maintain a steady work schedule and manage to avoid delays from distractions or questions. On-demand classes can also be a useful alternative for experienced Java users seeking advanced instruction since they have prior knowledge and resources to make up for the limited feedback. However, for students pursuing longer, more thorough, professional-level education in Java, the limitations of on-demand lessons create greater difficulties. Unanswered questions, missing information, confusion, and undiagnosed errors create increasing delays when students must either wait for replies or search for answers themselves. Learning intermediate and advanced Java techniques and tools requires constant practice and these lessons build upon one another, so small problems can quickly multiply. Worse, for programs that charge on a subscription basis, delays can increase the cost of on-demand study.

Most students find that live instruction greatly reduces the difficulties of learning Java, especially for longer project-based or career-focused programs. A live instructor provides students with faster responses to address their questions, provide alternate explanations, and evaluate their programming work. This advantage alone avoids many delays and helps students progress faster and with less frustration. In a classroom setting, whether in-person or virtual, students can also learn alongside other students, sharing information and practicing collaborative programming skills. The classroom environment can also help students stay focused, and the fixed class schedule of a live course gives them an incentive to complete work quickly and keep up with class topics. Students who find self-paced classes too unfocused and prone to distraction may benefit from this structure. The benefits of live classes make studying Java easier, particularly for advanced studies but also including introductory classes. Overall, students also progress faster in live courses. As a further benefit, many longer Java courses like bootcamps and professional training programs also provide career guidance, interview practice, a starting portfolio of class projects, and practice with related skills like project planning and collaborative programming.

Best Ways to Learn Java Without Difficulty

Live classes may be attended in person or online. In either format, live instruction helps students learn Java quickly, thoroughly, and with the least difficulty. The main asset in live Java classes is the instructor, who is usually an experienced Java programmer and a practiced teacher. Their expertise helps them answer questions, provide varied explanations and examples, and anticipate and explain students’ coding errors. This fast, accurate feedback helps students understand concepts more quickly and avoid lingering mistakes, preventing increasing difficulties as the class moves forward. Instructor feedback becomes increasingly valuable as students progress into intermediate and advanced topics, including more complex and unintuitive programming techniques that require clear explanations, multiple examples, and extended practice. Live courses also provide many exercises, practice problems, and examinations to check students’ understanding, and the class instructor can check this work quickly. 

Live classes do require a fixed schedule of classes, which can create difficulties for students with limited free time or irregular schedules. To accommodate more students, many live schools offer alternate course structures and scheduling options. One alternative for students with limited time frames is a bootcamp course, which compresses a subject’s most important lessons into an intensive schedule. A Java bootcamp can teach enough about Java to qualify for entry-level employment in several fields after about three months when attended full-time. For students who have fewer hours available per day or per week, some live courses are offered on a part-time basis. Part-time classes run for four or fewer hours per day, often in the evenings, and may also space their classes more widely, held on two to four days per week. Part-time courses are not only helpful for students with limited study time but also for those who otherwise need to spread their studies over a longer period, giving them more time for practice and comprehension.

Live Java courses progress through their core lessons quickly, which leaves more time for varied exercises that boost experience, class projects that can yield professional-quality products to feature in a starting portfolio, and bonus lessons on related topics like project planning and collaborative programming. Many live courses focus on particular project types or career paths and include extra training in the programming techniques and tools specific to that work. For example, a professional training program on Java for mobile development would likely include lessons on at least one mobile application programming interface (API) and a mobile application framework, and possibly one or more mobile-specific development environments and compilation tools. These lessons might be omitted from a self-guided course of similar length or might be considered advanced lessons requiring additional payment. As a further benefit of live instruction, instructors can regularly update their lessons to reflect Java’s newest releases and tools, in contrast to the pre-recorded lessons in on-demand and free classes, which take longer to update.

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.