Core Java Tutorial with Examples for Beginners & Experienced

Introduction

This blog post will look at a detailed Core Java tutorial for beginners as well as for experienced programmers. The topics compiled and presented in this tutorial will help you to build your Foundations in Java covering the basic fundamental topics as well as the advanced topics that will expertise you in Java.

It will definitely help you learn Java in a better way, with a deeper understanding of each and every topic, that every Novice or an Expert Java Programmer should be aware of.

What is Java?

Java is a programming language and computing platform first released by Sun Microsystems in 1995 and is now operated by Oracle which releases a new version of this language every year.

It is widely used and recommended across various application development platforms because of its Object-Oriented Programming Paradigm which helps programmers write and maintain code in a unique, efficient and secure way.

Currently, on the date of publishing of this post, Java 17 is the latest Java SE Version available on Oracle Java SE Platform. Each new version improvises and adds new features to Java for developers all around the globe.

Java Program Example

Here we will have a look at a sample Java hello world program just to give an overview of this language and how a simple Java Program looks like.

We discuss a sample code snippet to discuss what we’re getting our hands into. Don’t fret if you do not understand the code. Each Keyword and its explanation step by step will be shown as you proceed with this Core Java Tutorial.

File Name: Sample.java

Now for a beginner, the code above might not look familiar. So to understand this along with various key concepts follow the below given outlined tutorial to strengthen the basics.

Core Java tutorial

Java tutorial for experienced Programmers

Applications of Java Programming

Java is a robust Programming language and its applications are vast in the field of Software/Application development. Though we can streamline its major applications in various sectors:

• Developing Interactive Desktop GUI Applications in Java- All desktop applications can easily be developed in Java. Java provides GUI development through APIs like AWT, Swing, JavaFX to build these applications. Common Examples include Media Player, Antivirus Software, etc.

• Developing Mobile Application using Java: Java is considered the official programming language for mobile app development. It is compatible with software such as Android Studio and Kotlin. Java’s Micro Edition or JME is also a cross-platform framework used for applications running on mobile and other devices.

• Developing Server and Web-Based Application using Java: Java has a very big name in the financial services industry, many global investment banks Goldman Sachs, Standard Chartered, Barclays use Java as their most sought after business requirement implementation language. It is also prominent in government, healthcare, and insurance sectors where the Web Applications for them are built-in Java.
• Developing Software Tools: Many useful software and development tools are written and developed in Java, like Eclipse IDE, IntelliJ Idea, and NetBeans IDE. These applications have their wide use in developing Java Applications for enterprises and other sectors.

Java Platforms / Editions

To date, the Java Programming Language provides four platforms for developing Java Applications cross-platform depending on the requirements and platform dependency of the application.

• Java Standard Edition (Java SE): Java SE’s API provides the core functionality of the Java programming language. A beginner in Java should use this edition to understand Core Java in depth. It defines everything from the basic types to high-level classes used for networking, security, database access, graphical user interface (GUI) development.
• Java Enterprise Edition (Java EE): The Java EE platform is built on top of the Java SE platform. It adds features to develop generally scalable Web Applications or Applications used by Enterprises or Industries. The Java EE platform provides an API and runtime environment for developing and running large-scale, multi-tiered, scalable, reliable, and secure applications.
• Java Micro Edition (Java ME): The Java ME’s API is a subset of Java SE Edition with some special libraries useful for making applications compatible with small devices such as Mobile Phones. With the advent of Android, the Java ME Edition has become obsolete and is not much used these days.
• Java FX: Java FX technology is a platform for creating rich internet applications written in Java FX Script. Java FX Script is a statically-typed declarative language that has internal features same as Java, and can then be run on any Java Virtual Machine.

Prerequisites for Java

If you’re new to learn any language it is better to have some knowledge about the needs and prerequisites so that your learning is never hampered and you cover the topics easily without any confusion.

There are however some prerequisites to learn Java and we recommend you to follow this for a better experience.

• If you’re new to the world of programming with no prior experience and you want to start with Java as your first language, we recommend being familiar with the Fundamentals of Programming. Although Learning Java doesn’t require specialization in any other language still it will help you a lot.
• Now if you have any prior experience with programming. For Example, Having conversance with C Programming Language will definitely be a plus point on your road to learning Java as a part of the syntax and semantics of Java are closely related to C.
• As Java is an Object-Oriented Language so having introduced to object-oriented principles, like having an idea on object-oriented languages such as C++, Perl or Python will benefit a lot.
• So, in short, the hunger or passion to know java will help you most. The obsession to search over google about every documentation will get the most out of your learning.

Why Learn Java Programming?

In today’s world, Java has become one of the most popular programming languages. As more and more industries shift to Java to build projects and reliable applications, the demand for java has increased a lot in the past decade.

We highlight a few points on why java is an essential skill today:

• Easy to Learn: Java is easy to learn, as most of the syntax, the in-built methods, and classes have their naming convention in simple English.
• Free of Cost: One of the reasons, it is popular among developers is that the Java Development Kit or JDK is available for free licensed by Oracle on their website.
• Platform Independence: Java is a platform-independent programming language this makes developers worry less while coding. Its Write Once and Run Anywhere feature attracts more and more programmers every year.
• Large Documentation and Community Support:  Javadoc support by Oracle provides a great reference while coding in Java so that understanding the code is quite simple. Even some of the popular online communities like StackOverflow, Stack Exchange, Java Forums, etc provide innumerable resources for java.

That’s All about the Core Java tutorial for beginners as well as for experienced programmers. We highlighted the essential points for a beginner o become an expert in Java.

We will keep adding more links to this core java tutorial. If you have any topic for the suggestion, please do comment.