Learning Java is by far the best way to boost your employability, or your enterprise’s credentials. One of its biggest advantages is its scalability, which means it’s perfect for start-ups as well as big businesses. Plus Java developers are some of the most in-demand programmers, so the job prospects are great.
So, how difficult is Java?
Java is a general purpose language designed to be a less complicated successor to C++, which was notoriously challenging. It’s what programmers call a ‘high level’ language, meaning that is handles most of the complex, difficult details for you so you can focus on the programming. In other words, it’s not that difficult and is a good starting point for beginners.
That said, Java does take some work to get used to. It’s more long-winded than many other languages out there and can at times be stubborn. Once you’ve gotten to grips with it however there are rewards that few other languages can offer. Java is a statically-typed language so errors are easy to spot and harder to make. As a result, Java is faster and easier to maintain. Once you become proficient at coding, you’ll soon realise what a difference that makes!
Another benefit is that Java is highly portable and cross-platform. While the Android operating system runs on a Java language environment and is its natural home, it can also be applied to most others. So if you’re willing to put in some elbow grease at the start, Java quickly becomes easy, effective and highly useful.
What about Community Support?
All programming languages have a developer community that has grown up around them as the language has gained popularity, so there’s always plenty of ways to give and receive advice. The larger a community, the more exciting and interesting ways you’ll see the language being used and developed, so it’s a vital component.
90% of the Fortune 500 companies have a long history of using Java to develop desktop apps and website backend systems, so it’s safe to say there’s more than enough community support out there. There is a massive support ecosystem all over the web for Java developers.
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StackOverflow:
Java is the second largest community on this programming Q&A site, relating to both back-end web development and Android development.
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Meetup:
There are over 1400 Java Meetup groups with 580,000 members worldwide. It’s the 4th largest programming community on this networking site.
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GitHub:
GitHub has over 1 million Java projects 1100 have them have been starred by 500 people or more. It ranks second in terms of useful project and is also the second most tagged language.
How will Java benefit my career?
Quite simply, the career possibilities Java can open up for you are endless. It’s the third most in-demand skill on Angel List and is used by all of the tech giants out there; Google and Amazon are just two drops in an ocean. As well as those behemoths, plenty of small start-ups who want to scale up use it to power their features. According to the TIOBE index, Java was the most popular language in 2015.
Where is Java headed?
Everywhere! Unlike some other languages, Java has a relatively slow update cycle. That means it’s backwards compatible and, as a result, future-proof. It’s also owned by Oracle, so naturally it’s actively worked on and bugs are (usually) removed quickly.
There’s also the fact that it has all of the web’s biggest players in its corner, and a huge database of mature tools and libraries that are quite frankly irreplaceable. Couple that with its portability and its general popularity (which hasn’t really waned at all over the past few years), and it’s clear that Java will be sticking around for some time to come.
