You want to learn Java and you have a good reason for it. Java is a modern and well-established application programming language, which is widely used in many industries, such as telecommunication, finance, and much more. Java developer positions are the most numerous and, probably, the best paid. This, among other things, makes the language lucrative for young professionals to learn.
On the other hand, this is not without reason. The Java language, the tools, and the whole infrastructure around it is complex and sophisticated. Becoming a Java professional does not happen in a day or a week; it is a work of many years. To be a Java expert, you need to know not only about the programming language but also about object-oriented programming principles, open source libraries, application servers, network, databases, and many other things. Nevertheless, learning the language is an absolute minimum. All other practices build on it. Throughout this book, you will learn Java version 18.9, also known as Java 11, and other things. You will learn not only the language but also the most important tools like maven, gradle, spring, Guice, SoapUI; protocols like http/2, SOAP, REST; how to work in an agile professional team; and what tools the team should use to cooperate. In the last chapter, you will even learn how you can plan your career that you intend to start as a Java developer.
In this chapter, you will be introduced to the Java environment, and you will be given step-by-step instructions on how to install it, edit the sample code, compile, and run Java. You will get acquainted with the basic tools that help in development, whether a part of Java or provided by other vendors. We will cover the following topics in this chapter:
- Introduction to Java
- Installing on Windows, Linux, and macOS
- Executing jshell
- Using other Java tools
- Using an integrated development environment
