Where to Find Java Classes

Due to this programming language’s history, popularity, and broad utility, a wide variety of sources teach Java. These sources include universities, colleges, vocational schools, technical schools, teaching websites, and even social media channels. Each source has a preferred teaching format but may offer multiple course options. Different sources may also present the same kind of course differently. Choosing between Java courses is easier when you understand the benefits and drawbacks of each provider and their available course types. Learning more about these different educational sources will help you compare your options and choose the right course.

Noble Desktop and Other Professional Training Centers

Noble Desktop, a design and coding school in New York City, offers technical and professional classes and also helps students compare professional training centers and their classes using Classes Near Me, their online tool. Like Noble Desktop’s own courses, the courses listed by this tool tend to be career-focused, intended to prepare students for employment. These professional-level courses are primarily certificate programs and bootcamps, but Classes Near Me also includes a selection of introductory classes and advanced topical courses.

Much like trade or vocational schools, professional training centers prepare students for specific careers. Professional training centers offer comprehensive courses like certificate programs and bootcamps and shorter courses to teach specific career skills. Unlike the programs at many trade and vocational schools, which are sequences of multiple shorter classes similar to college degree programs, courses at professional training centers are individually complete. In this way, professional training centers are more similar to technical schools, with both more likely to offer classes on individual programming languages like Java. However, compared to technical schools, professional training centers are more likely to offer career programs, guidance, and support.

Professional training centers and technical schools are the best options for students who need to gain specific work skills quickly. This includes students upskilling for a new project, a new job, or a promotion. These career-focused courses emphasize speed over breadth, excluding less useful topics in favor of the high-priority skills students will need for work tasks. Professional Java training courses typically focus on a particular use of the language, such as web development, mobile development, or machine learning. These courses then exclude any techniques or tools specific to other projects, minimize comparisons to other programming languages, and avoid theoretical discussions. Their focus is first, to ensure students’ proficiency in Java programming, and second, to give students experience with the techniques and tools they will use most in their intended careers.

Colleges and Universities

Post-secondary institutions like colleges and universities rarely teach Java alone. Instead, Java is included as part of longer degree programs like computer science, web development, software development, or data science. Students interested only in learning Java should not consider such academic programs. Some colleges and universities do, however, offer single classes, usually as part of their continuing adult education programs. Students might also consider accelerated or career-focused degree programs, which require fewer classes and can be completed in a year or two.

Still, in either format, academic classes are longer, more thorough studies of their subject, covering background knowledge, theory, and extended topics in addition to practical skill training. A university’s Java class might include lessons on the language’s history, comparative properties, and recent updates, plus training with multiple Java frameworks to prepare students for a variety of possible applications. This breadth makes academic classes longer and more costly than professional training programs. Students who only need to know Java for practical work will likely find this additional material unnecessary. An academic class, course, or degree program is more useful for students who want a full understanding of Java, including its position within the wider context of computer science.

Coursera, Udemy, and Other On-demand Platforms

On-demand platforms provide training through pre-recorded video lessons and texts that students can access online and complete whenever available. Also known as self-paced or asynchronous study, on-demand learning can be a useful option for learning Java, especially for students with limited or irregular schedules. Students can also progress more slowly or quickly than is possible with a live class’ fixed schedule. On-demand Java courses are available through a variety of platforms, including general schools like Coursera and Udemy, coding-specific schools like Codefinity and Codecademy, college affiliate programs served by Ed2Go, and ‘freemium’ platforms like Hyperskill, which offer their tutorials for free but charge for services like feedback, additional practice projects, and certification. 

Students in on-demand programs can explore subjects in as much depth as they prefer, stopping early if they change their mind, skipping introductory material if already familiar, or adding more advanced lessons to a course. However, sites differ in their pricing structures, with some selling courses a la carte, some selling courses only as specific bundles, and others operating on a subscription basis, which can increase their costs if students take too long to finish a program. 

While the structure of on-demand programs gives students greater control and lowers their costs, this format also has several significant drawbacks. Most challenging, the absence of a live instructor delays and limits feedback to students, meaning that they wait longer for answers and get less help with problems, even when on-demand programs offer phone, email, or chat contact with advisors. Without regular, live classes, some students lose focus and motivation, falling further behind. The combined delays from these challenges can make on-demand study much slower than live instruction, especially for longer, more complex courses. Another problem with pre-recorded lessons is that they cannot be updated as quickly as live classes, possibly falling behind current standards. Finally, the quality of on-demand classes can vary across providers and even between different lessons in the same course, if they have different instructors.

YouTube and Other Free Resources

Many sources offer free Java tutorials, including social media platforms like YouTube, learning platforms like Udemy, coding sites like Codefinity and FreeCodeCamp, and Java-specific sites like CodeGym and Oracle’s Java Developer Tutorials. These online tutorials include articles, hypertext documents, videos, and interactive websites. Free resources are most useful for students seeking a basic overview of Java to help them understand the language better and decide how much they want to learn. Free tutorials can also be useful for experienced programmers who want answers to specific questions or explanations of particular topics. Although some free lessons are created by experts, the quality and accuracy of free materials are never guaranteed and can vary widely. Students will need to review and compare multiple free lessons to be sure they have the correct information. Free lessons also provide little organization, especially on social media sites, and may be incomplete, omitting some material. When offered by commercial teaching sites, free lessons are often limited, provided only as samples to encourage visitors to purchase longer courses. 

Compared to formal instruction, free lessons also lack several important assets. First, free lessons provide little to no feedback. The best responses students can expect are from message boards and possibly automated code evaluations on dedicated Java sites. Free tutorials rarely include more than a few examples and practice projects and, again, rarely address individual problems or evaluate students’ progress. To build reliable, consistent progress as a Java programmer, students need a complete, formal course of study built — and ideally, taught and evaluated — by an expert instructor. This is especially true for students seeking professional-level Java proficiency. Also worth noting is that free resources do not provide much career guidance or any direct career assistance, and very few free study programs offer certification of students’ accomplishments.