What to Do After Learning Java?


If you are a person who knows basic Java and does not know what to do with it or how it can be useful for you, then, you are at the right place. I’ll be discussing here some ways by which you can escalate your java skills and make some money with them too.

Let’s dive right in and find out what we can do with Java.

Keep Up With The Latest Technology

As you know technology is ever-changing. You could see a lot of new versions of programming languages and frameworks coming up. You can escalate your skills only if you know about the latest trends.

If you look at the Java language itself, you can see that it always gets updated and new versions are coming up frequently. So, the most basic and important thing for you is to keep up with the new developments in the programming language you know.

What To Do After Learning Java

Here, I am listing some new developments in technology that you can learn if you do not know already. I’m not telling you to learn all these technologies. In fact, don’t learn something just for the sake of learning things. I’m just telling you these are the options available for you as a Java developer.

DevOps(Jenkins)

More number of companies are moving into DevOps and adopting continuous integration and deployment. You need to learn a lot of tools and principles in DevOps as it is quite vast. You can become a DevOps Engineer if you have a passion for managing the environment and improving the overall structure. Jenkins is a DevOps tool written in Java created for the continuous integration process.

Docker and Kubernetes

Docker is a game-changer technology and if combined with Kubernetes, is one of the most important tools that will stay with you on a long-term basis. Whether it’s a large or small enterprise, almost all of the development teams use this.

RESTful Web service

Most people may not be knowing both Java and REST well. This is why you should be learning how to write REST API and implement secure and scalable RESTful Web Service in Java using Spring. This skill is highly desirable in the Java World.

Spring Framework 5.0

There had been a lot of significant upgrades to Spring and Java Ecosystem. Spring Framework 5.0 provides some new features like reactive programming model, adoption of Java 8 and 9, some improvements in unit testing, etc.

Spring Security 5.0(OAuth) is one of the major upgrades on the Spring Eco-System. Spring Boot 2 is the latest release for the Spring Boot framework.

Git

You must have heard of Git and Github. Most of the companies are migrating their projects from SVN, CVS to Git. So, you must learn and master it.

Unit Testing (JUnit and Mockito)

To Unit test and Integration Test the applications, there are various new frameworks and tools available for Java programmers. Mockito and PowerMock can be used for mocking objects, Cucumber and Robot Framework for automation integration test, and the new shining JUnit 5 library. Upgrading these skills will help in improving your coding expertise as well as will make you a professional developer.

Android App Development

Android is the most popular platform to write mobile applications and you know that mobile is one of the best platforms that connect a large number of people. Therefore writing Android applications is a great skill that you can have.

Apache Spark and Kafka

Big data is one of the hottest topics at the moment. Apache Spark and Kafta enable an integration platform for data streaming where data are processed in real-time making this one of the best big data technology.

How To Monetize Your Java Skills

Now that you have learned how to improve your skills and know-how to keep up with the latest technologies, let’s get into making some money with the same. Here I am listing some ways you can apply your skills of Java to fill your pockets.

Become A Freelancer

Broadcast your Java development works and projects in addition to your GitHub repository. Showcase your coding on Livecoding.tv. You can also make a portfolio for the platform or freelance marketplace they offer.

You can check the article ‘How to make money as a Web Developer’ to get an in-depth idea about freelancing your service. There I have mentioned step-by-step strategies to become a freelancer and also how you can get your client to whom you provide your service.

Write Web Applications

There is still a market for Web applications developed using Java. Tools like Play Framework helps for this purpose and Java development can be done quite fast compared to some other web frameworks. And also, web applications that require high performance often prefer Java over others.

Build Robots

With the coming of Artificial Intelligence(AI), you must have heard that our jobs will be cut to half, robots will take our place, and all those bluffs and stuff. But guess what?? You may not be much affected if you know how to build and operate these robots. That means you will be in high demand.

As a Java developer, you can build, maintain and innovate robots. You can also build various applications that could be used by the robots. The scope is very large. So, go ahead with this and create some magic.

Become A Java Content Creator

If you are very passionate about the Java Programming language, you can convert the same into content creation. In the initial phase, you may not be getting much return but if you keep your dedication in creating blogs or YouTube videos and are consistent with it then you may hit a boomer sooner or later. 

There are also multiple techniques by which you can monetize your YouTube/blog/podcast content and create passive income. Check some Java content platforms that are already available on the internet to get an idea about the same.

You can also create a course on Java and sell it on Udemy or some other online platforms.

IoT (Internet of Things)

There is a lot of scopes if you work on IoT. This is the latest buzz and will continue to be in the industry because it helps in connecting the surrounding devices and us. The market is still growing and will not slow down soon. 

Cloud Computing

Cloud computing is one of the things which is in hot trade just like IoT. As you know, Java is platform-independent, which means, it is portable. This helps you to develop and manage cloud computing solutions. 

The multi-purpose feature of Java enables you to work on mobile, desktop, and cloud applications. Heroku is an example of a cloud platform that uses Java. Both Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud Platform have provisions to host java applications and to also manage them efficiently.

Develop Games

You might be knowing that most of the best games are java powered. So, developing games is a very good way of utilizing your Java skill. There are a lot of developers who use Java as their core language to build games. You can check online about some cool ways on how to go ahead with it. There are a lot of tutorials available.

Become A Developer

With basic Java skills, you can become a Java developer and apply for a Job. You can use your skills to design, develop and manage Java-based applications. In this way, you can engage yourself in as many ways as possible.

Become A Scientist

If you are someone who loves solving problems using programming languages, then you can become a programming scientist. As you can see scientific innovations are booming daily, and you can also contribute to this pursuit in many fields. Different Java libraries can be used to do scientific work. The 2D and 3D libraries of Java helps in creating models which could make you be at top of your work.

Final Thoughts

These are some ways by which I think you can utilize your Java knowledge in a better way. And it is not limited to the ones I have mentioned above. I hope this was helpful for you and do comment below if you know of any other methods of utilizing Java skills. Use this as a starting point and do some research on your own to find out your career path.

Ashwin Joy

I'm the face behind Pythonista Planet. I learned my first programming language back in 2015. Ever since then, I've been learning programming and immersing myself in technology. On this site, I share everything that I've learned about computer programming.

5 thoughts on “What to Do After Learning Java?

  1. Ashwin you said, “Tools like Play Framework helps for this purpose and Java development can be done quite fast compared to some other Frameworks.”

    Can you explain this a little bit, I’m confused? Can you tell me why Play Framework is better than others?

    1. Hi Gagan, I never said Play is better than Django or Ruby. I said that it is a bit for fast in development compared to Django. I haven’t used Play, but this is what I heard other developers say about the Play framework.

  2. You said this – “Heroku is an example of a cloud platform that uses Java. Both Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud Platform have provisions to host java applications and to also manage them efficiently.”

    Nowadays I’m learning developing Python Applications, then deploying them on Cloud Computing Platforms. Do you recommend that I should also learn developing Java Applications and How to deploy them on Cloud.????????

  3. After going through your article Ashwin, it seems to me that there are some opportunities available out there for Java Developers. Nowadays I’m primarily focused on getting my hands dirty with Python only, Do you recommend that I should also learn Java? ????????

    1. There are opportunities for every language. Don’t learn a language just for the sake of learning it. If you think Java will be useful for you in the future, then you can definitely learn it. But, Python also has plenty of opportunities just like Java.

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