10 Tools Java Developers Should Learn in 2018
10 Tools Java Developers Should Learn in 2018
It's 24th December now and only a few days have left in the year 2017. It's a good time to look back and retrospect what you have achieved in 2017 and what you could have done better. This will help you to create your goals for 2018. As a programmer, our biggest challenge is to keep ourselves up-to-date. Technology changes very fast and you will see a new version of programming language and framework coming to every couple of year. This year has plentiful of changes with JDK 9, Spring 5, Spring Security 5 and Spring Boot 2, it's probably the busiest year in terms of changes for Java developers.
When I started 2017, I thought Java 8 was new and before I could finish learning Java 8 completely, Java 9 is ready. It came with a lot of interesting features e.g. Jigsaw modules, API enhancements like collection factory methods, a command line tool like JShall and many more. I am really excited to learn those in 2018.
Same goes with Spring framework and Spring Security, I didn't know all the changes on Spring 4.0 and Spring Security 4.0, my project was still using Spring Security 3.1 and boom we now have version 5.0 for both Spring and Spring security.
My learning speed has slowed down a little bit in last a couple of years and I haven't managed to keep myself up-to-date with latest and greatest e.g. I am yet to get comfortable with Git, JavaScript frameworks like Angular and React, latest changes on unit and integration testing space and new version of popular framework e.g. Spring, Spring Security, and Spring Boot.
So, 2018 will be all about getting myself up-to-date with things which matters most.
Git
Git and Github have been around some time and while I have used Git in past with Eclipse, I am yet to become comfortable with Git on the command line. Why I haven't mastered Git so far? Simply because I didn't need it yet. I have occasionally download projects from Github and run from Eclipse but I am still a novice with Git.
Since now most of the companies are migrating their projects from SVN, CVS to Git, its high time to learn and master Git. I have recently purchased the Git Complete: The definitive, step-by-step guide to Git from Udemy on their last 10$ sale and this would be the first item to complete in 2018. If you are in the same boat and want to learn Git in 2018, do check out that course from Udemy, it's very handy.
Unit testing
Another area which I want to improve in a coming year. There are a lot of new framework and tools available for Java programmers to unit test and integration test their application e.g. Mockito and PowerMock for mocking objects, Robot Framework, and Cucumber for automated integration test and of course the new and shining JUnit 5 library.
There are plenty of stuff to learn on this front. If you can invest some time upgrading your unit testing skill, not only your coding skill will improve but also you will become a more professional developer, which every company looks form. To start with, you can check out JUnit and Mockito Crash Course from Udemy.
Java 8 and 9
As I said, I am still learning Java 8 and many Java developers too. I will also spend some time learning new features of Java 9 in 2018 but for me, Java 8 is still a priority. The JDK 9 brings a lot of goodies in terms of modules, Jigsaw, Reactive Streams, Process API, HTTP2 client, JShell, and API improvements like collection factory methods and I am really looking forward to learning them at the earliest opportunity.
In the last Udemy 10$ sale, I have purchased a host of courses and one of them is Java 9 MasterClass and I am looking forward to starting my Java 9 journey with that.
Btw, if you have yet to start with JDK 8 then here is my list of favorite Java 8 tutorials and courses which you can free of cost: 10 best tutorial to learn Java 8.
Spring Framework 5
The year of 2017 has seen many major upgrades to Spring and Java Ecosystem and Spring Framework 5.0 is one of them. I have been hearing about some new features like reactive programming model on Spring 5, adoption of Java 8 and 9, some unit testing improvement etc but I have yet to try that.
Anyway, I have already started learning Spring 5.0 by following Spring 5. 0: Beginner to Guru and will keep the momentum going in 2018. If you use Spring, probably it's the best time to learn Spring 5.0. If you like books, you can also check out the Learning Spring 5.0 book from Packt Publications, one of the first book on Spring 5.0
RESTful Web Service
One more thing I want to improve in 2018 is my knowledge about writing REST API and implementing secure and scalable RESTful Web Service in Java using Spring. This is one skill which is highly desirable in Java world and there are not many people who know both Java and REST well. If you are also in the same boat and want to learn how to develop RESTful Web Service using Spring, The REST of Spring MasterClass from Eugen Paraschiv is a good starting point.
Spring Security 5.0
This is the third major upgrade on Spring Eco-System. The 5th version of popular security framework has several bug fixes and a major OAuth 2 module, which you just can't miss. This is another priority Item for me in 2018 along with Spring 5.0 framework stuff. Thankfully Eugen has updated his best selling course Learn with Spring Security to include 5.0 features and added a separate module for OAuth 2.0., probably the best material to learn Spring Security 5.0 at this moment.
Spring Boot 2
The Spring Boot framework also has a new release Spring Boot 2. If I get sometime after all these goals in 2017 then I will learn Spring Boot 2. If you also want to learn Spring Boot 2, you can check out this free Spring boot course from Udemy for a quick start.
Angular JS or React JS
These two JavaScript framework has completely changed how you develop web applications. As a Java developer, I have used Servlet, JSP, and jQuery at client side but haven't yet tried my hand with Angular or React. In 2018, one of my goals is to learn Angular JS and I will be starting my journey with Udemy's Angular 5- The Complete Guide. If you are in the same boat then you can also take a look at that course, it's very handy.
Android
If you don't know how to write Android Apps in 2018 then you are lacking something. Mobile is one of the best platforms to reach a large number of people and Android is probably the most popular platform to write mobile applications. Even though I know Android basics, I have yet to publish any Android apps, maybe 2018 will change that. For now, I have shortlisted these Android online courses to refresh my knowledge and get to the next level. If you are also in the same boat then you may find them useful as well.
Apache Spark and Kafka
One more thing I want to explore in depth in 2018 is the Big Data, and particularly Apache Spark and Apache Kafka framework. I am not sure if I will get time to look other Big data technologies but its seriously good stuff and Big Data is probably the hottest technology at this moment. If you also want to learn Big data in 2018, you may want to check my list of shortlisted courses to learn Apache Spark for Java developers from Udemy and Pluralsight.
That's all about what to learn in 2018? As I said, Technology changes with rapid speed and the biggest challenge for programmers are to keep themselves up-to-date. Apart from this list, there are plenty of other stuff which you can look-up in new year e.g. learning a new programming language like Kotlin but for me, I will be more than happy if I can achieve these goals in 2018.
It's 24th December now and only a few days have left in the year 2017. It's a good time to look back and retrospect what you have achieved in 2017 and what you could have done better. This will help you to create your goals for 2018. As a programmer, our biggest challenge is to keep ourselves up-to-date. Technology changes very fast and you will see a new version of programming language and framework coming to every couple of year. This year has plentiful of changes with JDK 9, Spring 5, Spring Security 5 and Spring Boot 2, it's probably the busiest year in terms of changes for Java developers.
When I started 2017, I thought Java 8 was new and before I could finish learning Java 8 completely, Java 9 is ready. It came with a lot of interesting features e.g. Jigsaw modules, API enhancements like collection factory methods, a command line tool like JShall and many more. I am really excited to learn those in 2018.
Same goes with Spring framework and Spring Security, I didn't know all the changes on Spring 4.0 and Spring Security 4.0, my project was still using Spring Security 3.1 and boom we now have version 5.0 for both Spring and Spring security.
My learning speed has slowed down a little bit in last a couple of years and I haven't managed to keep myself up-to-date with latest and greatest e.g. I am yet to get comfortable with Git, JavaScript frameworks like Angular and React, latest changes on unit and integration testing space and new version of popular framework e.g. Spring, Spring Security, and Spring Boot.
So, 2018 will be all about getting myself up-to-date with things which matters most.
What Programmers should learn in 2018
Here is my list of things a Java developer should learn in 2018.Git
Git and Github have been around some time and while I have used Git in past with Eclipse, I am yet to become comfortable with Git on the command line. Why I haven't mastered Git so far? Simply because I didn't need it yet. I have occasionally download projects from Github and run from Eclipse but I am still a novice with Git.
Since now most of the companies are migrating their projects from SVN, CVS to Git, its high time to learn and master Git. I have recently purchased the Git Complete: The definitive, step-by-step guide to Git from Udemy on their last 10$ sale and this would be the first item to complete in 2018. If you are in the same boat and want to learn Git in 2018, do check out that course from Udemy, it's very handy.
Unit testing
Another area which I want to improve in a coming year. There are a lot of new framework and tools available for Java programmers to unit test and integration test their application e.g. Mockito and PowerMock for mocking objects, Robot Framework, and Cucumber for automated integration test and of course the new and shining JUnit 5 library.
There are plenty of stuff to learn on this front. If you can invest some time upgrading your unit testing skill, not only your coding skill will improve but also you will become a more professional developer, which every company looks form. To start with, you can check out JUnit and Mockito Crash Course from Udemy.
Java 8 and 9
As I said, I am still learning Java 8 and many Java developers too. I will also spend some time learning new features of Java 9 in 2018 but for me, Java 8 is still a priority. The JDK 9 brings a lot of goodies in terms of modules, Jigsaw, Reactive Streams, Process API, HTTP2 client, JShell, and API improvements like collection factory methods and I am really looking forward to learning them at the earliest opportunity.
In the last Udemy 10$ sale, I have purchased a host of courses and one of them is Java 9 MasterClass and I am looking forward to starting my Java 9 journey with that.
Btw, if you have yet to start with JDK 8 then here is my list of favorite Java 8 tutorials and courses which you can free of cost: 10 best tutorial to learn Java 8.
Spring Framework 5
The year of 2017 has seen many major upgrades to Spring and Java Ecosystem and Spring Framework 5.0 is one of them. I have been hearing about some new features like reactive programming model on Spring 5, adoption of Java 8 and 9, some unit testing improvement etc but I have yet to try that.
Anyway, I have already started learning Spring 5.0 by following Spring 5. 0: Beginner to Guru and will keep the momentum going in 2018. If you use Spring, probably it's the best time to learn Spring 5.0. If you like books, you can also check out the Learning Spring 5.0 book from Packt Publications, one of the first book on Spring 5.0
RESTful Web Service
One more thing I want to improve in 2018 is my knowledge about writing REST API and implementing secure and scalable RESTful Web Service in Java using Spring. This is one skill which is highly desirable in Java world and there are not many people who know both Java and REST well. If you are also in the same boat and want to learn how to develop RESTful Web Service using Spring, The REST of Spring MasterClass from Eugen Paraschiv is a good starting point.
Spring Security 5.0
This is the third major upgrade on Spring Eco-System. The 5th version of popular security framework has several bug fixes and a major OAuth 2 module, which you just can't miss. This is another priority Item for me in 2018 along with Spring 5.0 framework stuff. Thankfully Eugen has updated his best selling course Learn with Spring Security to include 5.0 features and added a separate module for OAuth 2.0., probably the best material to learn Spring Security 5.0 at this moment.
Spring Boot 2
The Spring Boot framework also has a new release Spring Boot 2. If I get sometime after all these goals in 2017 then I will learn Spring Boot 2. If you also want to learn Spring Boot 2, you can check out this free Spring boot course from Udemy for a quick start.
Angular JS or React JS
These two JavaScript framework has completely changed how you develop web applications. As a Java developer, I have used Servlet, JSP, and jQuery at client side but haven't yet tried my hand with Angular or React. In 2018, one of my goals is to learn Angular JS and I will be starting my journey with Udemy's Angular 5- The Complete Guide. If you are in the same boat then you can also take a look at that course, it's very handy.
Android
If you don't know how to write Android Apps in 2018 then you are lacking something. Mobile is one of the best platforms to reach a large number of people and Android is probably the most popular platform to write mobile applications. Even though I know Android basics, I have yet to publish any Android apps, maybe 2018 will change that. For now, I have shortlisted these Android online courses to refresh my knowledge and get to the next level. If you are also in the same boat then you may find them useful as well.
Apache Spark and Kafka
One more thing I want to explore in depth in 2018 is the Big Data, and particularly Apache Spark and Apache Kafka framework. I am not sure if I will get time to look other Big data technologies but its seriously good stuff and Big Data is probably the hottest technology at this moment. If you also want to learn Big data in 2018, you may want to check my list of shortlisted courses to learn Apache Spark for Java developers from Udemy and Pluralsight.
That's all about what to learn in 2018? As I said, Technology changes with rapid speed and the biggest challenge for programmers are to keep themselves up-to-date. Apart from this list, there are plenty of other stuff which you can look-up in new year e.g. learning a new programming language like Kotlin but for me, I will be more than happy if I can achieve these goals in 2018.
posted by Zikka | 12:57 AM
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