Best Online Courses and other Resources to learn Java

What is Java?

Java is a programming language and computing platform first released by Sun Microsystems in 1995. There are lots of applications and websites that will not work unless you have Java installed, and more are created every day. Java is fast, secure, and reliable. From laptops to datacenters, game consoles to scientific supercomputers, cell phones to the Internet, Java is everywhere!

Source: Java.com

Why learn Java?

Java language was designed to be easier to use than C++, which was a notoriously complex language. 90% of the Fortune 500 companies have since used Java to develop desktop apps and website back-end systems.

Java is a highly portable language as it must be executed through a cross-platform compatible Java Virtual Machine (JVM).Furthermore, Android apps are also developed using Java since the Android Operating System runs on a Java language environment.

Source: bestprogramminglanguagefor.me

Some other features of Java that makes it worthy to learn are:

Scalability : It is considered to be easily scalable, to taking your small projects to a larger platform is not a big deal.
Fast : Java is considered a very fast programming language.
Optimized Performance: Modern Java programs are now even more performant thanks to mature JIT (just in time) compilers and improved JVMs, as performance can be optimized in real time to help a Java program run faster. This is very helpful as your app grows larger or needs to handle more processes.
Community : It has a very huge community of developer’s , so a big community means better support and betterment and updates in the language very oftenly.
A lot of jobs : There are lot of job opportunities for a Java Developer in the Market, as one can find Java in most if the technologies, embedded devices, web development, software development, android development, etc.

What are the applications of Java?

Java has lot of applications in the real world, some of them are:

Mobile Applications : We all know how huge android is, and it is completely built on Java.
Web Application : Java Servlets, Struts or JSPs provide support for the application of Java in web applications.
Web Servers and Application Server : Apache Tomcat, Rimfaxe Web Server, Project Jigsaw are some of the examples of Web Servers.
Embedded Systems : Embedded systems, ranging from tiny chips to specialized computers, are components of larger electromechanical systems performing dedicated tasks. Several devices, such as SIM cards, blue-ray disk players, utility meters and televisions, use embedded Java technologies. According to Oracle, 100% of Blu-ray Disc Players and 125 million TV devices employ Java.
Desktop GUI Applications : Tools like Abstract Windowing Toolkit, Swing and JavaFX helps in GUI(Graphical User Interface) Development. And there are many other applications of Java.

What is the best way to learn Java?

I always recommend people to go for online courses, and learn by working on projects. If you are someone studying in reputed Universities like MIT, Harvard, Standford, etc or you have a very outstanding teacher to teach you Java, then its obvious you that you don’t need any online courses. But if you lack a good teacher, go for online courses. Try to enroll in a course that focuses on teaching you by working on projects, try to do as many projects as possible.

Here are top 10 online courses available to learn Java:

All these courses mentioned are awesome, but the one with are (awesome)².

Java Programming and Software Engineering Fundamentals Specialization (Coursera [Duke University])
Java Tutorial for Complete Beginners (Udemy [Free])
The Complete Java Developer Course. Learn Step by Step (Udemy)
Java Programming Basics (Udacity)
Up and Running with Java (Lynda)
Introduction to Programming with Java (XSeries) (edX)
Selenium with Java – Basics to Advanced with Interview Guide (Udemy)
Absolute Introduction to Object Oriented Programming in Java (Udemy)
Java Programming Basics (Udemy [Free])
Intro to Java Programming (Udacity)

Best books to learn Java are:

**Clicking on the books will take you to your local Amazon store.

Few other good resources to visit to learn, practice and keep yourself updated in Java are:

I want to make this blog a platform for the learners to find best resources and Online Courses available for particular technologies, So I request you all to please share any new resources you know of and will be helpful for everyone, in the comment section below and I will add the same in the article.