Why exactly should you learn Java?

Everything is clear enough with "ordinary" human languages: in today's world, you need to have a good knowledge of your native language and English; the need to know any other language depends on your circumstances. The software development world has no universal language that we might call "English for programming". There are at least half a dozen popular languages contending for this title. But we believe that Java comes closest. And here's why.

What does Java have that is good for student programmers and practicing programmers?

It's a very simple language

What does "simple programming language" mean? Usually, it means two things. First, it is easy to learn for people who know nothing about programming. Second, it is effective at solving various tasks. Anyone who has already tried to learn a language will appreciate this. Both properties are fully applicable to Java. It's truly easy to learn Java. And all because it is relatively high-level. This means that you don't have to dive deep into the weeds as you do with lower-level languages. For example, in Java, garbage collection (i.e. killing "unused objects taking up space in memory") happens without your involvement, unlike in C++. But at the same time, Java is sufficiently low-level to handle most tasks. Let's clarify one important point. There are languages that initially come more easily than Java. For example, Python — thanks to its concise and understandable syntax. And there is also Pascal/Delphi, which was specifically created for education. Indeed, it is currently studied mainly in schools and mainly due to inertia. It's a language with a very logical structure. But the situation is changing, and rapidly. Most real-world tasks are easier to solve in Java than in Python, let alone Delphi.

Libraries and frameworks for every occasion

If a programmer faces some challenging task, it's highly likely that there's already a Java library that will help solve it. The main thing is not to be lazy. Read the documentation or ask questions on popular forums such as Stack Overflow. And if you're still studying, ask questions in the "Help" section on CodeGym. For example, students can benefit a lot from implementing their own sorting algorithms once or twice, just to understand how they work. But in real development work, you don't need to memorize them. You just need to know the relevant tools that Java already has (in particular, Collections.sort()). And this is just an example. Because Java has been actively used for serious tasks for a long time, you can find Java libraries and frameworks for everything (well, almost).

A huge community and high-quality documentation

Maybe you've already seen the joke about the three-button keyboard in Stack Overflow's public groups? The joke isn't far from the truth: programmers often use someone else's code in their work, and it's not just beginners asking questions on the most popular developer forums. But there are a lot of Java professionals who help answer questions on Stack Overflow. So it's highly likely that they'll help you with your question. What's more, if you don't understand something, you'll probably be able to figure it out with the help of one or another of the articles in the documentation — Java has very good documentation.

What about Java is good from a technical and structural point of view

Multiplatform

"Write once, run anywhere" is about Java. You don't have to rewrite a Java application to have it work on computers running different operating systems. You just need to install virtual machines for these operating systems. Of course it's not that easy. Obviously, you won't be able to launch a "heavy" enterprise application on an antediluvian mobile phone. That said, the antediluvian phone will have a Java virtual machine. This approach greatly simplifies development.

Object-oriented programming (OOP)

Java is an object-oriented language, and its "object-orientation" is implemented in the very best way. Basically, everything is an object in Java. You'll learn about inheritance, abstraction, encapsulation, and polymorphism at their best.

Excellent implementation of multithreading

Multithreading is simply indispensable when working with blocking operations and graphical user interfaces. And in general, if information can be processed in parallel, then why not do it? Java offers tremendous multithreading capabilities, ranging from simple synchronization and methods that stop/resume threads to specialized classes. In practice, multithreading is very difficult, especially for beginning programmers. But Java has everything you need to make multithreading as convenient as possible.

Java is constantly evolving, but it is backwards compatible with previous versions

If Java 9 took several years to create, then versions 10 and 11 were not long behind. Java currently changes its version number once every six months, and often gains new interesting and useful features. But the best thing is that developers don't need to rework everything every time a new version is released, since Java maintains backwards compatibility: all previous versions are compatible with those that follow. Of course, there are nuances, but they are insignificant compared to many other languages.

What is good about Java in terms of my career?

Java is everywhere. A Java developer finds it easier to find a position to his or her liking and can move to another position without retraining. The language is used to create server applications for financial services, web applications, embedded systems, and big data, and for writing Android programs and scientific applications. We could go on and on. Java is everywhere. A Java programmer can find work in almost any country in the world, and can do this much easier than developers limited to other languages. Java remains one of the most popular languages in the world — just look at its TIOBE ranking. Excellent pay. Last but not least: people pay well for good knowledge of Java.

The bottom line

All the reasons given above inspired us to create the CodeGym course. And we've deliberately focused on Java, because we sincerely love this language. It's not only popular and promising, but it's also an excellent professional tool that builds a strong programming mindset. The important thing is to loaf around. You need to write as much code as possible.