Learing Java 8

[Millennium]

Hi all
Recently I have got an opportunity to skill up in Java and this could possibly lead to work or work experience.
My timeframe is around 3 months and I will end up using Spring Boot, MongoDB, and AWS.

I have some experience with Perl and PHP previously, as well as Java but that was a LONG time ago.

I have started by doing the 55 hour video course Java 8 Fundamentals by Paul Deitel. I am enjoying it so far but worried I'm not following properly yet.

I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions on how to pick up Java well? Perhaps some online tutorials or lessons they would recommend? I plan to finish this course and will be getting further help from at least 1 expert but I figure it couldn't hurt to ask...

[jimbouk]

Pet project, the only way to learn a programming language is to do it. Run though some basic spring boot starter examples then think of something you'd like to knock up - could just be a simple calendar or a to-do list sort of thing.

A decent IDE helps. I used to use Eclipse, IntelliJ is also a thing. Not sure what else there is out there (I currently use VSCode but only really for Python atm).

The thing you might want to focus on though is learning OO programming (unless you're already doing it). The mindset change is more fundamental than the syntax change to a different language. I remember working with someone (more senior) who just couldn't get it. I used to get review comments telling me to remove abstract base classes from code because they didn't like them...

[DanceswithUnix]

Agreed, you learn programming by having a go.

While the runtime environment is somewhat different, you might find Android app programming a good source of projects to keep you busy.