17 Best Java Courses for 2024 [Beginner & Intermediate Java Courses]

Today we’re looking at the absolute best Java courses for this year.

We broke it down based on value, newbie-friendliness and the best for intermediate students.

There’s a Java course for just about every developer in this list.

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TLDR: 17 Best Java Courses

Here’s a look at the best Java courses based on best value, best for newbies and best intermediate course.

💸 Best Value 💸
Codecademy: Learn Java

💥 Best for Newbies 💥
Educative: Learn Java from Scratch

🏃 Best Intermediate 🏃
Coursera: Introduction to Java as a Second Language

Best Java Courses: Why should I learn Java?

Simple: it’s one of the most in-demand languages in the world.

Best Java Courses

1. Educative: Learn Java from Scratch

Learn Java from Scratch is an interactive course on Educative.io.

There are no videos- instead, you’ll learn using:

• coding playgrounds
• code snippets
• illustrations
• challenges
• quizzes

First, you’ll start by learning how to write a hello world program in Java.

Then, with 11 modules you’ll learn:

• variables and user input
• simple math and logic
• strings
• conditional statements
• loops
• methods
• arrays
• classes and inheritance

And more.

Finally, you’ll take a Java exam. This consists of 33 questions ranging from true/false to multiple choice, and matching answers to writing code.

At the completion of this course, you’ll be leveled up to an intermediate Java developer.

💰 Price: Free to audit
⏲️ Duration: 12 hours
📉 Level: Beginner
🖥️ Format: Interactive learning
🎖️ Certificate: Yes

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2. Codecademy: Learn Java

Codecademy is another interactive learning platform.

You’ll learn by doing with interactive lessons, quizzes and projects.

There are occasional videos, but they’re not the primary learning source.

Learn Java is one of the best all-around Java courses.

First, you’ll work on fundamental programming concepts. This includes object-oriented programming (OOP) in Java.

There are 11 modules in this course which include:

• Hello World
• variables
• object-oriented Java
• conditionals and control flow
• arrays and loops
• string methods
• inheritance and polymorphism
• debugging

And much more.

In addition, you’ll build 7 projects in Java such as:

• Mad Libs
• a basic calculator
• desert island playlist
• DNA sequencing

And more.

By the end of this course, you’ll be able to create simple Java projects.

Also, you’ll be ready to level up as an intermediate Java developer.

💰 Price: $39.99 per month / $240 per year
⏲️ Duration: 25 hours
📉 Level: Beginner
🖥️ Format: Interactive learning
🎖️ Certificate: Yes

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3. Treehouse: Java Basics

Treehouse is typically a video-based platform.

So it’s ideal for students that are visual learners.

However, this course also has interactive coding challenges and quizzes.

There is no prior programming experience needed for Java Basics.

Over the 3 modules in this course, you’ll build an interactive game.

First, it will prompt players for different parts of a sentence. Then, it will generate a story using the selected words.

In the three modules, you’ll learn how to:

• write programs in Java
• interact with users while using the console
• store and name data with basic data types
• control program flow with conditionals and looping
• how to add multiple formatters to a format string
• add feature enhancements to your prototype

And much more.

This course is based around building a project.

We recommend taking another standalone course on Educative.io or Codecademy to reinforce concepts individually.

💰 Price: $29.99 per month / $240 per year
⏲️ Duration: 2.25 hours
📉 Level: Beginner
🖥️ Format: Video
🎖️ Certificate: No

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4. Pluralsight: Modern Java: The Big Picture

Pluralsight is another video-based platform. This is ideal for visual learners.

But you will be doing all work outside of the browser, which they’ll show you how to set up.

Modern Java: The Big Picture provides a general overview of Java. This course may help you decide if learning Java is right for you.

It’s one of the best video-based Java courses we discovered.

With 6 modules, you’ll learn about:

• the Java platform
• the philosophy of Java
• compiling and running Java code
• desktop and enterprise Java
• Java in the cloud
• integrated developer environments (IDEs)

And more.

You’ll also learn about popular Java libraries.

Finally, you’ll examine Java Virtual Machine (JVM) alternatives such as Groovy, Scala and Kotlin.

➡️ Read about the best Kotlin course.

💰 Price: $29 per month / $299 per year
⏲️ Duration: 2 hours
📉 Level: Beginner
🖥️ Format: Video
🎖️ Certificate: Yes

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5. Pluralsight: Getting Started with Programming in Java

Getting Started with Programming in Java is another course on the video-based platform Pluralsight.

It’s an ideal starting point for all Java environments: server-side, client-based, Android and big data development.

First, you’ll learn how to start developing applications using Java by creating applications, declaring variables and more.

Then you’ll work with things like parameters, methods and arrays.

With 8 modules, you’ll learn about:

• variables and data types
• conditional logic
• looping
• string formatting

And beyond.

So by the end of this course, you’ll have a foundational understanding of Java concepts.

Then we recommend taking the intermediate course The Complete Java Crash Course on Educative.io.

💰 Price: $29 per month / $299 per year
⏲️ Duration: 4.75 hours
📉 Level: Beginner
🖥️ Format: Video
🎖️ Certificate: Yes

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Best Java Courses: Course Bundles

6-10. Coursera: Java Programming and Software Engineering Fundamentals Specialization

Coursera is another video-based platform ideal for visual learners.

So while you’ll be doing all work outside the browser, they’ll guide you on how to get started.

Java Programming and Software Engineering Fundamentals is a bit different than our other best Java courses.

It’s a Specialization, or bundle of 5 courses.

So instead of taking a short time to complete, it’s expected to take 5 months.

The 5 courses include:

Programming Foundations with JavaScript, HTML and CSS

Here’s where you’ll learn foundational programming concepts.

Java Programming: Solving Problems with Software

Next, you’ll learn to code in Java while improving your programming skills.

Java Programming: Arrays, Lists, and Structured Data

Then you’ll learn about new data structures to build more complex programs.

Java Programming: Principles of Software Design

You’ll learn how to use Java interfaces to scale programming solutions.

Java Programming: Build a Recommendation System

Finally, you’ll build your capstone project: create a recommender engine similar to Netflix and Amazon.

There are also 4 other projects throughout the Specialization:

• interactive webpage that applies image filters
• analysis of CSV data files
• encryption program
• predictive text generator

Also, keep in mind this Specialization is geared towards students with no programming experience.

💰 Price: $49 per month
⏲️ Duration: 20 hours
📉 Level: Beginner
🖥️ Format: Video
🎖️ Certificate: Yes

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11-15. Educative: Java for Programmers

Java for Programmers is a Skill Path on Educative.io. It’s similar to Coursera’s Specializations.

Instead of one course, it’s a bundle of multiple. And the curriculum is expected to take months to complete.

This Skill Path is geared towards students who have experience with programming but are new to Java.

There are 5 modules in Java for Programmers:

Basics of Java Programming

First, you’ll get started with Java syntax and code examples. You’ll learn about variables, strings, loops and arrays.

Object Oriented Programming

Then you’ll learn about how object oriented programming (OOP) works in Java. Using OOP principles, you’ll learn how to write reusable code.

Java Unit Testing with JUnit 5

In addition, you’ll learn how to use JUnit 5, a Java unit testing framework.

Note: Unlike other Educative modules, this one does have ample videos explaining JUnit 5 concepts.

Lambdas and Stream APIs

After that, the Skill Path covers a list of improvements made in Java 8. This includes Lambdas and Java Stream API.

Java Multithreading

Finally, you’ll delve into concurrency and multithreading in Java.

💰 Price: $59 per month / $249 per year
⏲️ Duration: Unknown
📉 Level: Beginner
🖥️ Format: Interactive learning
🎖️ Certificate: Yes

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🔥 Geena’s Hot Take

Skill Paths and Specializations are the way to go if you want to learn Java.

Why?

Because they’re similar in cost to individual courses.

So not only are you getting more courses. But you’re getting courses that were specially curated to flow with each other.

In my opinion, this is the best way to learn any programming language.

Intermediate

16. Educative: The Complete Java Crash Course

Here’s another interactive course on Educative.io.

So there aren’t any videos. Instead, you’ll learn using interactive coding playgrounds, code snippets and illustrations.

The Complete Java Crash Course is for programmers who are already familiar with Python, C++, or similar languages.

With 5 modules, you’ll learn about:

• the basics of Java
• variables and experessions
• loops and conditionals
• classes
• objects
• methods

And more.

Then in the final module, you’ll work on a challenge project: tetrominos.

So basically you’ll learn how to build a project similar to Tetris.

💰 Price: $29 per year
⏲️ Duration: 6 hours
📉 Level: Intermediate
🖥️ Format: Interactive learning
🎖️ Certificate: Yes

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And finally on our list of best Java courses:

17. Coursera: Introduction to Java as a Second Language

As the name suggests, Introduction to Java as a Second Language is for students already familiar with another programming language.

The goal is to help you learn Java faster, because you’ll already have programming fundamentals out of the way.

While this is a video-based course, the instructors will explain how to set up your dev environment.

Introduction to Java as a Second language is part of the Java as a Second Language Specialization, but you can take the course individually.

The syllabus is broken down into two, week-long modules.

Week 1

Module 1 – Java Foundations

Here you’ll start by learning what Java is. Then, you’ll learn what the Java Virtual Machine is.

Finally, you’ll come to understand why Java is crucial for web applications.

Module 2 – Building the Java Development Environment

Here you’ll learn how to download and install Java. You’ll also install the Eclipse IDE.

Week 2

Module 3 – Java Classes and Objects

Learn about the features that make Java an object-oriented language.

Module 4 – Instantiation, the Constructor, the Main Function and Objects

Learn about each of these and how they’re used in Java.

Module 5 – Additional Classes and Concatenation

Here you’ll learn how to use concatenation in Java.

Also, at the end of this course, you can choose if you’d like to continue on with the 3-course Specialization.

💰 Price: $49 per month
⏲️ Duration: 7 hours
📉 Level: Intermediate
🖥️ Format: Video
🎖️ Certificate: Yes

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17 Best Java Courses: Conclusion

So what are the best Java courses this year?

We came up with three based on our criteria:

Best Value
Codecademy: Learn Java

Best for Newbies
Educative: Learn Java from Scratch

Best Intermediate
Coursera:Introduction to Java as a Second Language

So which one of these is the best fit for you?

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