How Long Does It Take To Learn Java?

Introduction

Java is a general-purpose programming language, which is designed to be easier to use than C++. Java is said to be a portable language, as the deployment of this language is simple to perform through a cross-platform compatible Java Virtual Machine (JVM). 

Android apps are also developed using this programming language since the Android operating system runs on a Java language environment. In this write-up, we will discuss how long it takes to learn Java Programming from scratch. 

We’ll cover two perspectives here: First, the one who has a fundamental knowledge of Object-Oriented Programming. Second, the one who does not have any prior knowledge of OOPs. You must be wondering why I am using the term “OOP” repeatedly. 

Let me clear that Object-Oriented Programming or OOPs, in short, is said to be the backbone of Java. Without any knowledge of OOPs, you cannot proceed to learn further. Below, we’ll share how it will take approximately nine months if you don’t have any prior knowledge of OOPs, and merely a few months if you already know the basics. Let us find out the rating of Java out of 5 as per its characteristics-

Future of JAVA

Although Java has been criticized many times and many languages have tried to replace it as a better option, with the release of a better Java (Version-8) during 18th of March 2014, it will clearly continue to stay relevant and will be going strong, especially since it already has many mature tools and libraries that will not be easy to replace.

Interest learning of Java grew by 22.4? in 2015

A programming language's ability to stay relevant and survive also depends on whether the language is getting new blood, so clearly Java will continue to dominate in the years to come.

Beginner Friendliness: How long to learn java?

Mainly, Java was designed for beginner-friendly. It assumes that the programmer is not that smart or careful, so programmers will be less likely to shoot themselves in the foot when coding Java applications.

• Relatively Simple to Use

Java is a high-level language, which means Java handles most of the complex details of the machine (computer) such as memory management, etc. Thus, you can focus on programming instead of worrying about the little details many consider both tedious and difficult.

• Less Rewarding from the Start

Java is very stubborn and expansive, which means you need to write a lot of code trying to convince the language to build some features. Thus, you may need to spend a lot of time coding before you can get a working app. This may be demotivating for coding beginners.

Scalability

• Easier to Maintain

Java is a figural-typed language, which means that your code should have to be checked for errors before it can be built into an app. This means errors will be easier to track down. Moreover, the languages that are typed statically are also strict as per the definitions of things, by this, you will have fewer strange and unexpected errors, which means your base of code will be as easier to maintain as it grows in size and complexity.

• Fast

As a statically typed language, Java is said to be a faster language than other dynamically typed languages because things are more clearly defined. Therefore, when the app is running, your machine's resources will not get wasted on checking the definition of something in your code.

• Optimized Performance

Standard Java programs are now even more effective; thanks to the JIT (just in time) compilers and updated JVMs, because of this performance can be optimized in real-time to help a Java program run faster. This is efficiently helpful as your application grows larger or requires handling more processes.

Community

The size of the community is important because the larger a programming language community is, the more support you would be likely to get. As you forward your step into the programming world, you'll soon understand how crucial support is, as the developer community is all about giving and receiving help. Furthermore, the larger a community, the more people will be building useful tools to make development in that particular language easier. As of now, there are over 600 remarkable programming languages worldwide. So, with that milieu, let's get into the details of the Java community size-

• 2nd Largest StackOverflow Community

StackOverflow is a questions & answers programming site using which you will no doubt become intimate as a beginner’s coder. Java has a wide community for both back-end web development and Android development.

Read: Java Print ArrayList with Examples

• 4th Largest Meetup Community

At the meetup, you can simply network and learn from fellow developers. Meetups often offer mentorship to those who want it as well. There are over 1.4k Java Meetup groups, totaling over 580k members worldwide. As per the programming languages, Java has the 4th largest meetup community.

• 2nd Most-tagged Language at GitHub

Due to the more useful projects, there are at GitHub, the more people have already built a function you need, which will greatly speed up your development process. GitHub has over 1.5 million Java projects, over 1.1k of which have been starred by over 500 people, making it 2nd place in terms of useful projects., Normally, the ecosystem of Java is quite wide and mature, so there are plenty of good tools and libraries that will greatly ease the process of developing Java apps and learning Java in general. You’ll find lots of like-minded, passionate programmers.

Career Opportunities: How long it take to learn Java?

Java is the 3rd Most Demanded Skill on Angel list. Many tech experts such as Microsoft, Google or Amazon also use Java to develop the backend of their websites, and because Java has pretty good performance, a lot of startups who have reached the scaling point would integrate their applications with Java to power features that need to have good performance. According to Indeed.com, Java developers are in high demand compared to other programmers. There are plenty of short circuit learning processes – to teach you a programming language. There are two aspects of getting a proper time period if you want to learn the Java programming language.

People having knowledge of OOPs Object Oriented Programming (OOPs) is an integral part of the Java programming language. It includes the concepts of Encapsulation, Abstraction, Polymorphism, Message Passing, and Inheritance. People having fundamentals of OOPs will be able to learn Java easily and in a shorter span; because prerequisites are the same for all the programming languages. You have learned how to write code in Java, now you need to know how to build things in Java. 

But either during building things or before that if you have time, learn more about data structures, design patterns, and also multithreading because writing code is not really a challenge but writing efficient code that’s the real deal and these things will help you a lot in doing that. A couple more things a lot of good tutorials are available in Java but a good book can also be really helpful, my suggestion would be to go for “Head First Java ''. Also, don’t forget to use Java docs, people at Sun and Oracle have put real hard work into them.

People who do not have knowledge of OOPs OOPs became popular since it offers several benefits to the program designer and the user. Object orientation contributes to the solutions of many problems associated with the development and quality of software products. Java is an OOP language, you cannot run a Java application without its style, but you can do it in C++, it's compiler still provides C style, which is a structured programming language. There are plenty of books or online resources available that claim to teach Java in 21 days on how to learn java for beginners. 

I would say, don’t fall for it.  You may still learn the syntax in 21 days, but that is not the same as learning a language. If you really want to understand the language you will need at least one year - to go from nothing to someone who can actually develop an entire application in Java. You do not need to have a Mathematics or engineering background to become a software programmer in Java. Your background doesn't really matter. What you need is dollops of common sense, a logical mind, and the determination to work really hard.  The major factor on which how long will it take to learn java, depends is to what range do you want to learn java and more importantly to what end. If you want to learn Java to design web applications, or you want to learn java to write desktop applications, or you want to learn java to design games or there are many other things which you can do after learning Java. Learning programming is more than learning a foreign language. Let us break up core Java into different parts and try to guesstimate how much time you need to learn Java when you don’t have any prior experience of OOPs-

• Fundamental learning of programming: How long it takes to learn Java? 

How to learn java for beginners? Is this question bothering you? Then you may start with fundamental learning. You may take this knowledge anywhere from one month to at least 6 months (it takes a whole semester in a university undergrad for this course). You are required to learn a few topics like- how to loop, maybe this can be learned later as well, but it is recommended to clear your fundamentals in the very beginning. These looping structures can make you loopy in the beginning so it’s always better to get them off the way. You can pick out any book or tutorial, write your first Java program and keep playing inside it.

• Art of Algorithm: How long it takes to learn Java? 

This part is really crooked and ill-defined. Initially, you may not be much interested in learning this part, but believe me, once you start learning, it will be extremely beneficial for you. Principle features like Encapsulation, Inheritance, polymorphism, etc., just go through it thoroughly. Don’t just cram but apply them in real-life scenarios.

• Syntax of Programming Language

This is the repetitive part that you have to do in order to learn multiple languages. You should clarify the concepts like syntax, data types, directory structures, essential classes, some concepts specific to Java, multi-threading, I/O, etc. (we are talking about basics only because an in-depth study of these topics alone can take days). The concepts remain the same; only the language syntax changes. For a person who has good knowledge in the above 2 points, learning this would be a piece of cake. I would say 2 weeks.

For a person with no prior programming experience, it is expected approximately 9 months, that is 5+3+1 months to completely understand and write Java programs.

Read: What is Inheritance in Java? Different Types of Inheritance in Java

Some tips that would help you in your learning journey of Java:-

• Learn the terminology of Java
• Practice simple Java programs (Not just “hello world program”, start practicing pattern programs, small projects, etc.)
• Ignore the negativity around you
• Java is all about practicing
• Take a hands-on coding experience
• Get certified in Java 

Since there are no concrete figures to answer how much time does it take to learn java or 

Final Words on How Long Does it Take to Learn JAVA?

The best way to learn Java is to follow certain steps: learn terminology, practice, practice, oh wait, and more practice. Repetition is the key. Java is said to be the easiest programming language. You may have to accept that you may not understand everything the first time around and that’s truly all right. It’s also important to find out the best way you learn. 

The key is to be patient and understand that everyone learns differently. The primary fact to learn Java entails proficiency in theoretical knowledge as well as practical. Success lies in the amount of time invested to exercise the programming language, to make mistakes, and to learn from those mistakes. May the coding Force be with you! Happy coding!

Are you someone who has learned the language and is also working on the same? Then do let us know how long did it take you to learn JAVA? Please let us know in the comment section. 

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