Top 5 Java Courses and Certifications You Should Take as a Beginner in 2022

Developing software is the most in-demand skill in today's world. Many organizations, companies, and institutes use different types of software to manage their day-to-day work. Software development is not easy when it comes to coding and writing the code. But, with the help of software development tools in which you only have to drag and drop items, it has become easy. However, software developed manually with coding is much better and more efficient than one developed using some tool.
Java is a high-level programming language, released in 1995, and has been widely used for software development since then. It is a platform-independent, interpreted, object-oriented programming language. In this article, we will discuss some aspects of the language and the best way to learn it:
According to PYPL (Popularity of Programming Language index), Java is the second most popular programming language in 2022. The Tiobe index for April 2022 has placed it in the third position. Due to its platform independence, it has retained its position. It has always been one of the most popular languages, even after many other programming languages have been developed and introduced. More than 3 billion devices run Java, which confirms its popularity.
Java is the most robust and easy-to-understand language that many programmers prefer over other programming languages. Here are some reasons why you should prefer it over other languages:
- It is platform-independent, meaning that the code written for one machine works the same for others.
- Easy to learn and understand
- Simple to use
- It is open-source and free, meaning that you do not need to buy anything to develop in Java
- It has large community support meaning that you find the solutions to your problems quickly if you ever get stuck
- Java code is reusable and has a clear structure to program
What could be Developed with Java?
Java can be used in the following applications:
- Android Applications
- Web Applications
- Software Tools
- Embedded Systems
- Desktop applications
- Enterprise applications
- Web servers and much more!
Career Opportunities for Java Developers:
After learning and acquiring skills in Java, you can apply for the following job positions:
- Junior Software Developer
- Senior Software Developer
- Software Architect
- Java Web Developer
- Java Android Developer
- Java EE Developer
- Freelance Java Developer
Besides all the careers mentioned above, Java developers have many more career options.
Job Market and Salaries of a Java Developer:
As stated earlier, Java development is one of the most in-demand skills nowadays and will also acquire this position in the future. According to Dataquest, it is the most in-demand job role in 2022. It acquires almost 22% of the physical job market, including software developers, software testers, and quality assurance specialists. In the freelance marketplace, it has almost the same ratio. On Freelancer.com, one of the most famous traditional freelance marketplaces, more than 450 open jobs, and on Upwork.com, 4,867 open positions are available for Java developers.
From the above statistics, you can understand the importance and demand of Java.
On average, a Java developer in the U.S earns around $106,111/year. However, this number may vary depending upon your location and the position you are working in. Different levels of experts earn different amounts. Some of the general roles have the following salaries:
Entry Level:
- Junior Java Developer: $40k – $90k per year
Mid-Level:
- Java Developer: $60k - $120k per year
Senior Level:
- Senior Java Developer: $150k to $200k per year
Getting Started with Java:
When we want to learn anything, the first thing we all do is search the Internet. We find much material regarding the particular subject, such as books, video tutorials, articles, blogs, and multiple courses offered by different platforms. Although all the things that we find are equally helpful, the best way to learn Java programming practically is to take an online course. Many platforms offer multiple Java specializations and courses for different levels of expertise, but the best place to learn Java is Udemy or Coursera. The top 5 Java courses are mentioned below. Let's dive deep into each course.
5 Best
Java
Courses in 2022:
This Course Includes:
- Duration: 80 hours of video lessons
- Contents: 25 sections • 401 lectures
- Popularity: 672,787 students enrolled
- Ratings: 4.6 out of 5 (160,625 Ratings)
- Certification: Available
- Level: All Levels
As you might know, Udemy is one of the best platforms to acquire any technical and non-technical skills; it also offers the best Java courses for all experts. This amazingly designed course claims to make you a Java expert in no time. After taking this course, you will have job-ready Java skills. The course content covers the Java basics for some Java frameworks such as Spring plus Java EE and Android development.
You are just required to have a computer or a laptop with Windows or macOS to create new applications and practice what you learn in this program. You should consider taking this one of the best Udemy courses for Java developers:
- If you are a beginner with zero coding experience
- If you want to build advanced Java applications
- If you want to polish your skills and get a job as a Java developer
Calling this course, the best advanced Java course on Udemy would not be wrong.
Things You'll Learn:
- Course Introduction
- Software Tools Setup
- First Steps
- Expressions
- Statements
- Code blocks, Methods and more
- Control Flow Statements
- OOP Part 1 - Classes, Constructors and Inheritance
- OOP Part 2 - Composition, Encapsulation, and Polymorphism
- Arrays and Java inbuilt Lists
- Autoboxing and Unboxing
- Inner and Abstract Classes & Interfaces
- Java Generics
- Naming Conventions and Packages
- static and final keywords
- Java Collections
- JavaFX
- Basic Input & Output including java.util
- Concurrency in Java
- Lambda Expressions
- Regular Expressions
- Debugging and Unit Testing
- Databases
- Java Networking Programming
- Java 9 Module System
- Migrating Java Projects to Java 9
- Course Remaster in Progress
- Archived Videos
- Source code, and other stuff
Featured Review:
“I'm really learning a LOT. To be honest some topics are extensive, and sometimes too heavy on detail (and a bit boring at first), but if you insist, Tim always finds a way to make it interesting again. On a swifter version of the course, I would leave JavaFx out, or would narrow it down to a couple of classes for all components leaving the TodoList Tuto as optional. But that's me. Anyway, I'm loving it!” – Rafael S.
Best Features of This Course:
Up-to-date course materials
The most complete, in-depth Java programming course online
Learn to develop powerful Java applications using IntelliJ IDEA!
The Highest rated Udemy course on Java across the internet
Self-paced Learning Style
Affordable Pricing: $11.99
This Course Includes:
- Duration: 5 months long course
- Contents: 4 courses • 6 hours/week
- Popularity: 79,790 students enrolled
- Ratings: 4.7 out of 5 (3,498 Ratings)
- Certification: Available
- Level: Beginner
Another best platform to learn Java is Coursera. Offering many specializations for different levels of expertise in Java, this specialization is designed for programmers with some experience with coding in any programming language. There are 4 comprehensive courses for Java developers in the curriculum:
- Java Programming: Solving Problems with Software: You will improve your problem-solving skills by learning to code in Java.
- Java Programming: Arrays, Lists, and Structured Data: This part covers the advanced data structures using which you will build complex software.
- Object-Oriented Programming in Java: Covers the object-oriented programming in Java using data visualizations.
- Data Structures and Performance: Explaining how Java handles large amounts of data, this course will teach you to write a code that performs well.
Offered combinedly by Duke University and the University of California, this specialization is the best certification for Java developers.
Things You'll Learn:
- Data Structure
- Hash Table
- Java Programming
- Object-Oriented Programming (OOP)
- Algorithms
- Problem Solving
- String (Computer Science)
- Cryptography
- Logic Programming
- Sorting Algorithm
- Trees (Data Structures)
- Linked List
Featured Review:
“I am very happy that this course is part of the Object-Oriented Java Specialization - the one which has 2 courses from Duke and 2 courses from UCSD. If you are reading this, it goes without saying that you are interested in learning more about Java and getting certification - this course will do that but begin to blend in a lot more topics that are specific to Computer Science - topics like algorithm efficiency for sorting and finding data. This shift towards Computer Science theory, as opposed to practical Java programming, may surprise you. This can be challenging material - but in the context of the course, you can evaluate how you feel about it without committing too much - since it's the final course in the specialization. Regardless of your receptiveness to theory, the content is highly relevant in practice, just be warned that you may not breeze through this course. It will definitely be worth it though, as knowledge of these topics are what's expected of people with a Computer Science background in the field today.” – Jade F
Best Features of This Course:
This perfect specialization for aspiring software developers who want to solve complex problems through objected-oriented design with Java
Build proficiency in Java and object-oriented programming design through the development of four Java applications
Top rated Java course on Coursera
Self-paced Learning Style
Affordable Pricing: $39.99/Mo
This Course Includes:
- Duration: 31 hours of video lessons
- Contents: 29 sections • 372 lectures
- Popularity: 145,777 students enrolled
- Ratings: 4.4 out of 5 (24,231 Ratings)
- Certification: Available
- Level: Beginner
If you are a beginner and want to get started with programming, this is the best course to learn Java. The course was designed for absolute beginners, the curriculum of which covers the fundamentals of Java programming with hands-on exercises. After learning the Java basics, you will learn object-oriented programming and build Rest API using the Spring Boot.
You do not need to have any experience in coding to take this course. Designed by Ranga Karanam, founder of in28Minutes, having 20+ years of experience in technology, architecture, and programming, a complete package for those who:
- Want to learn Java and have zero experience
- Want to enhance their programming skills
This is undoubtedly the best Java course for beginners.
Things You'll Learn:
- Introduction
- Installing Java
- Jshell using Multiplication Table
- Java Method with Multiplication Table
- Introduction to Java Platform
- Eclipse - First Java Programming Project
- Github Book
- Java Object Oriented Programming
- Primitive Data Types And Alternatives
- Conditionals
- Loops
- Reference Types
- Arrays and ArrayLists
- Java - Oriented Programming Again
- Collections
- Generics
- Functional Programming
- Threads And Concurrency
- Exception Handling
- Files and Directories
- Java Tips
- New Course Additions - An Overview
- Java New Features - Java 10 to Java 16
- Spring Framework
- Spring Boot
- Simple REST API with Spring Boot and Spring Data JPA
- Troubleshooting Eclipse and Java
Featured Review:
“I am a second-year student and want to learn Android development using Java and Kotlin. So I found this the most popular course and here I found the best teacher Ranga sir, the teaching skills are really impressive, I have never seen this kind of brilliant sir who teaches such an easy way.” – Subham M.
Best Features of This Course:
Up-to-date course materials with modern and dynamic contents
The best Java course out there for Beginners with easy-to-follow guidelines
Learn to Build REST API with Spring, Spring Boot, and JPA (Hibernate)
Self-paced Learning Style
Affordable Pricing: $11.99
This Course Includes:
- Duration: 54 hours of video lessons
- Contents: 24 courses in total
- Popularity: Many students enrolled
- Ratings: 4.5 out of 5 (3,257 Ratings)
- Certification: Available
- Level: All Levels
Pluralsight, an emerging platform to acquire programming skills in any programming language, offers the best Java online course with certificates for three levels of expertise:
- Beginners Level: Covers the basics of programming, including the introduction, setting up the programming environment, getting started with programming, etc.
- Intermediate Level: On this level, you will learn advanced concepts such as exception handling, working with files and nulls, Java collections, Lambda expressions, generics, etc.
- Advanced Level: This part covers advanced topics like APIs, libraries, asynchronous programming, securing Java applications with data, etc.
After completing the course, you will have to take an interactive course with hands-on exercises to test your knowledge and expertise. Calling this course the best java course online, especially for absolute beginners, would not be wrong. Designed by multiple instructors and experts in their fields, it does not require you to have any knowledge regarding programming or Java.
Things You'll Learn:
- Modern Java: The Big Picture
- Setting a Development Environment
- Programming with Dates and Times
- Handling Exceptions
- Working with Files Using the Java NIO API
- Working with Nulls
- Adding Metadata with Java Annotations
- Java 11 Fundamentals: Collections
- Using Lambda Expressions
- Java 11 Fundamentals: Generics
- The Java Reflection API Method Handles
- Asynchronous Programming Using CompletionStage
- Java Core Libraries: Java Log System
- Java Core Libraries: JDBC
- Leveraging Parallel Streams for Fast Data Processing
- Java Fundamentals: HttpClient
- Working with Classes and Interfaces
- Mastering Object-oriented Programming
- Securing Java Web Application Data
- Using Lists (Interactive)
- Using Sets (Interactive)
- Using Maps (Interactive)
- Using Lambda Expressions (Interactive)
Best Features of This Course:
A complete learning path giving you a solid foundation for your future Java studies
Opportunity to test your knowledge of Java language with hands-on interactive courses
Top recommended course among the communities
Self-paced Learning Style
Affordable Pricing: $19/Mo
This Course Includes:
- Duration: 5 months long course
- Contents: 5 courses • 4 hours/week
- Popularity: 255,062 students enrolled
- Ratings: 4.6 out of 5 (12,884 Ratings)
- Certification: Available
- Level: Beginner
Duke University offers another Java certification for beginners on Coursera, covering Java programming and software engineering fundamentals. The curriculum of the specialization includes the five best Java courses:
- Programming Foundations with JavaScript, HTML, and CSS: In this course, you will learn the basics of programming, i.e., loops, conditional statements, and functions, with the help of frontend web development technologies.
- Java Programming: Solving Problems with Software: This is where you will get started with Java programming and learn to solve problems with the help of software.
- Java Programming: Arrays, Lists, and Structured Data: Moving gradually to the advanced concepts, you will learn to handle and work with data.
- Java Programming: Principles of Software Design: Learn how to solve real problems using Java and programming. You will be building an earthquake data analyzer and predictive text generator application.
- Java Programming: Build a Recommendation System: You will be building a recommended application in this course.
Having covered all the aspects of Java programming, you will have job-ready skills in Java programming and apply for the positions requiring Java skills at the end of this program. This is doubtlessly the best Java certification course online to become a certified Java professional.
Things You'll Learn:
- Html
- JavaScript
- Cascading Style Sheets (CCS)
- Java Programming
- Html5
- Algorithms
- Problem Solving
- String (Computer Science)
- Data Structure
- Cryptography
- Hash Table
- Programming Principles
- Interfaces
- Software Design
Featured Review:
“This course and the specialization in general has helped to peak my interest and has boosted my confidence concerning computer science. I want to express my most sincere gratitude to the great and accomplished academics that guided me through this course as well as my studious peers and distinguished mentors.” – Obiomachukwu A C
Best Features of This Course:
An in-depth specialization packed with core programming concepts and to help writing programs that can solve complex problems
Dedicated capstone project on creating a recommender system like Netflix.
Self-paced Learning Style
Affordable Pricing: $39.99/Mo
Final Notes:
Thank you for reading this article. You might have got puzzled about which course to take, so here is our recommendation:
- If you are a beginner and just want to learn the basics, take Java Programming for Complete Beginners, the best Java course on Udemy, and
- If you plan to develop complete software development skills in Java, the best course to start from would be Java Programming and Software Engineering Fundamentals Specialization – Coursera.
- If you like our top Java courses, please share them with others. However, if you want to learn about the most popular programming Languages right now, please look at our Top 5 Python Courses and Certifications in 2022. This will help you become a more skilled developer. Thank you, and Best of Luck!