Java Training Course

This course is designed for anyone looking to build a strong foundation in modern Java programming. It is ideal for:

• Individuals who are new to programming and wish to start with Java.

• Developers experienced in other programming languages who want to learn Java.

• Existing Java developers seeking to refresh their core skills and get up to speed with modern Java features.

• Those preparing for further specialisation in areas like enterprise development, mobile applications, or data science using Java.

Delegates will ideally have some previous programming experience in another language such as Python, JavaScript, Perl, PHP, C# or C++. No previous Object-Oriented Programming is assumed but would certainly be helpful.

Please let us know if you have any questions about getting started with Java - we can customise the training to match your team's experience and needs - with more time and coverage of fundamentals for new developers, or a swifter pace for experienced coders.

This Java course is available for private / custom delivery for your team - as an in-house face-to-face workshop at your location of choice, or as online instructor-led training via MS Teams (or your own preferred platform).

Get in touch to find out how we can deliver tailored training which focuses on your project requirements and learning goals.

Java Overview

• Current Release Plan and Recent History (LTS releases: Java 11, 17, 21, etc., and the release cadence)

• How the Java Environment Works (JVM, JRE, JDK)

• HelloWorld Program

• Launch Single-File Source Code (Java 11+)

• jShell REPL (Java 9+)

• Comments and Terminators

• Identifiers

Syntax, Types, and Operators

• Java Variables and Data Types (Primitive and Reference Types)

• var declarations (Local-Variable Type Inference - Java 10+)

• Text Blocks (Java 15+)

• String interpolation / String Templates (Preview/Incubating in recent versions - mention current status)

• Numerical Operators and Casting

• Conditional Expressions and Logical Operators

• Control Flow Statements (if, while, do-while, for)

• Special flow of control operators (break, continue)

• The switch statement (Traditional and Updated switch expressions/statements - Java 14+)

• Pattern Matching for instanceof (Java 14+)

• Pattern Matching in switch statements (Java 17+)

Classes and Objects

• What is an Object? Objects and Encapsulation

• What is a Class? Class-Object Relationship

• Defining Classes and Instance Variables

• Constructors (Defining and Overloading)

• Working with Objects

• The toString() method

• Adding behaviour with Methods

• Static Members (Class Side Data and Behaviour)

• The final Keyword

Working with Methods

• Method Definitions, Arguments, and Return Types

• Overloading Methods

• Method Invocations

• Constructors Versus Methods (Revisited)

• Method References (Revisited in Functional Programming context)

Class Inheritance

• Inheritance in Java

• Implementing Inheritance (extends)

• Rules for Overriding Methods (@Override)

• Rules for Polymorphic Variables

• Casting and Inheritance

• The super Keyword

• Constructors and Inheritance

Abstract Classes, Interfaces, and Sealed Types

• Abstract Classes (Defining, Extending, Using)

• Java Interfaces (Basic Definitions, Implementing, Default and Static Methods - Java 8+)

• Using Interfaces as Contracts

• Inheritance by Interfaces and Types (Multiple Interface Inheritance)

• Sealed Types (Classes and Interfaces - Java 15+)

• Purpose of sealed types, defining and extending/implementing sealed types.

• Constraints on sealed subclasses, subclasses in the same file, records as subclasses.

Records

• Traditional Class Definition vs. Record Version (Java 14+)

• Defining Record Classes

• Instantiating Records

• Automatic methods (equals(), hashCode(), toString(), accessors)

• Overriding auto-generated methods

• Adding static data and behaviour to Records

• Other features of Records (Annotations, Local Records - Java 16+)

Packages and Modules

• Packages (Declaring, Class-Package Relationship, Classpath, JAR Files)

• Encapsulation and Access Modifiers (Class, Constructor, Variable, Method modifiers)

• Introduction to the Java Platform Module System (JPMS - Java 9+)

• Why we need modules, looking at what modules are

• How to define a module (module-info.java)

• Creating single and multiple module applications

• Linking Modules

Arrays and the Collections Framework

• What is a Java Array? Creating and Accessing Arrays

• main method args array

• Ragged Arrays

• Implications of Inheritance for Arrays

• The Collections API Overview

• Key Collection Interfaces and Classes (List, Set, Map, ArrayList, HashMap, etc.)

• Iteration and Enumeration

• Generics and Collections (Adding Generics to classes, Type Equality, Generic Collection Assignment, Generics and Inheritance with Collections)

• For Loops (Enhanced for loop)

• Boxing and Unboxing (Autoboxing/Unboxing)

• Raw Collections (Why to avoid them)

• Java 9+ Immutable Collections (Factory methods List.of(), Set.of(), Map.of(), etc.)

Error and Exception Handling

• Errors & Exceptions Overview

• Exception types in Java (Checked, Unchecked, Errors)

• The Exception Hierarchy

• Exception Handling (try, catch, finally)

• Local Handling and Passing the Buck

• Try-with-Resources (Java 7+)

• Defining New Exceptions

• Chained Exceptions

Nested and Inner Classes

• Four types of Nested/Inner Classes

• Properties of Member-level, Method-local, Anonymous, and Static Nested Classes

• Java 11 Nest-based Access

Functional Programming in Java

• Functional Programming Concepts

• Functional Interfaces (@FunctionalInterface)

• Using Built-in Functional Interfaces (Predicate, Consumer, Supplier, Function)

• Lambdas in Java (Syntax, Using Lambdas)

• Closing / Capturing Variables (Closures)

• Returning Functions, Higher-Order Functions

• Method References

The Java Optional Type

• The Problem with Null (NullPointerException)

• Introduction to the Optional Type (Java 8+)

• Creating Optional Values

• Working with Optional (Checking presence, Getting values, Providing defaults, Chaining operations)

• Method Summary

Java Streams API

• What are Streams? (Java 8+)

• Streams from Collections and other sources

• Intermediate vs. Terminal Operations

• Common Intermediate Operations (map, filter, sorted, distinct, peek, limit, skip)

• Common Terminal Operations (forEach, collect, reduce, count, min, max, anyMatch, allMatch, noneMatch, findFirst, findAny)

• Using Collectors (toList, toSet, toMap, groupingBy, partitioningBy)

• Pipelining Stream Operations

• Parallel Streams (Introduction and considerations)

• Streams for I/O operations (Files.lines())

Files, Paths, and I/O Streams

• Introduction to NIO.2 (Java 7+)

• The Path Interface and Paths Class

• The Files Class (Working with files and directories)

• File Attributes

• The File Watcher Service (Monitoring directory changes)

• Traditional I/O Streams (Input Streams, Output Streams, Readers, Writers)

• Using Scanner for input

Introduction to Build Tools

• Why use a build tool? (Dependency Management, Building, Testing, Packaging)

• Overview of Apache Maven and Gradle

• Setting up a simple project with Maven or Gradle

• Managing dependencies

Introduction to Unit Testing

• The importance of Unit Testing

• Introduction to JUnit (Using JUnit 5)

• Writing and running simple test methods

• Assertions

• Get the latest OpenJDK - https://openjdk.org/install/

• Get the Oracle Java JDK - https://www.oracle.com/java/technologies/downloads/

• Popular Java IDE (IntelliJ IDEA) - https://www.jetbrains.com/idea/

• Popular Development Environment (Eclipse IDE) - https://www.eclipse.org/downloads/

• Official Java SE Documentation (Java API, Tutorials) - https://docs.oracle.com/en/java/javase/index.html

• Download Apache Maven (a common build tool) - https://maven.apache.org/download.cgi

• Install Gradle (another popular build tool) - https://gradle.org/install/