7 Tips to Help You Stand Out as a Java Developer

When the world is witnessing the immersive expansion in the field of technology, Java has been consistently playing one-sided games in programming. That’s why it’s been almost three decades and still, ev

ery beginner is being asked to start learning this programming language today. Perhaps, if you’re not at the beginner’s stage, there are still “n” tips and tricks that can surely help you to stand apart and ace your career as a Java Developer.

In this article, we are going to highlight some major points and tricks that will clarify a few questions in your mind:

1. What should I do to excel in Java Programming?
2. How to achieve the “Pro Level” of Java Programming?
3. Is there any specific area to work upon for being a good Java Developer?

These are some of the basic questions that can ring bells in your mind whenever you give a thought to “Java Programming”. We came up with the 7 best tips to help You Stand Out as a Java Developer so make sure you’re making a tight follow-up on this. So, let’s being.

1. Make APIs Your "Best Buddies"

The only mantra to excel in any field is to gain more knowledge and that can be achieved possibly by getting a strong grip over java libraries and APIs. The reason being, they are the one that includes classes, interfaces, etc. and moreover being a developer whenever you’ll trying to connect or integrate with any website or application, you must know its overall functionality and technicality “know-how’s”. However, you don’t actually need to remember every APIs, just the important ones are to be kept in mind all the times that are generally being deployed (such as Maven, Web API, etc.) so make sure you are in the continuous phase of learning those APIs to excel in Java.

2. Grip Over MVC

You must be aware of the fact that MVC (Model-View-Control) is among one of the best and most popular architecture styles that enable developers to create a more effective and structured project. Being a Java developer, you must be aware of its model system because it’s the only concept that helps in using the same code repeated times. This enables the enhancement of projects and saves time by working on multiple projects. However, when you’re at a beginner’s level, it is not expected you to make a stronghold. As you’ll be moving further, you need to push your skills and make strong concepts of MVC because there are many frameworks whose models are almost similar to that of MVC and it can make you stand apart from the rest of the Java developers.

3. Have “Problem Solving” Skill

The learning phase should never be stopped at any stage of the career. Even if you’ve got a job and working as a developer, you must always focus on enhancing your skills. To ace your career in Java, you must have skill for CDM (create-deploy-manage) codes fluently and that can be achieved only and only by practicing as much as you can and by building the “Problem solving” skill in development. You must possess a flexible approach toward java programming not just by gaining experience on paper but also by opting for competitive practice, certifications, etc. These paths will help you to stand out as a java developer.

4. Master the Art of “Testing”

The only difference that can differentiate you from the bunch of java developers is “how good you’re at unit testing”. That’s right, we all do pursue Java programming to write better codes but that doesn’t really count if you’re not good at Unit Testing because this is the only live demonstration of any project in which you’re working. Even if you’ll look at nowadays company’s hiring process, they are likely to onboard those candidates who have good practice in unit testing. It helps in measuring the quality of work or project and it also provides an opportunity to avoid wastage of time and code reusability and helps in preventing any unconditional effort of probing non-existing issues. In layman's terms Unit testing helps in measuring the quality of work and ensures that it meets the desired quality standards before it goes live if you have mastered it then trust us, you’re already reaching the next level in java programming.

5. Keep a Track of all Version Updates

Recently Java version 18 was released with some add-on features that you must look into. Their pattern is to release every new version twice a year, i.e. March and September, so always make sure that you’re keeping whole track of all the releases. On the other hand, to be an expert you must not lose sight of the early versions and focus on the latest trends as well. Add-ons like UTF-8(by default), Simple Web Server, Code Snippet in API documentation, Introduction of Vector API, etc. should be the major focus of the area, and try to actively participate in their community because such platforms will provide you a better vision and exposure towards the java programming language and from there you’ll be able to identify the real discussing forum.

6. Art of “Refactoring”

Always remember reading codes and practicing is not the only way of acing not only java but any programming language. To excel in it, you must possess the capability to identify and work for “Code Smell” from the project on which you’re working. However, it is not expected from a beginner’s level a coder to achieve this, but as you’ll be learning more and start getting comfortable you’ll be able to reach near these factors. By making a few changes it the code, you can achieve what you’re trying to look into. Besides this, any organization would want you to work on clean and efficient coding and this can be your next niche simply by writing and reviewing codes and spotting bugs from those command lines. However, you can also take suggestions from senior colleagues or references from online sources or books to make it go easy on you.

7. Never leave “JVM” behind

It’s a very simple quote “Never run from JVM if you want to exceed the expectation” Yes and that’s true, and right before that there are possibly three primary questions in mind.

• What is JVM?
• Why is JVM so important in Java?
• Why do we need JVM & how does it work?

These are some of the basic questions that you must be aware of even at the beginner’s stage. However, we can also summarize it as the backbone of Java programming language that allows java apps to move platforms independently.

*Note: For in-depth detail about JVM, we will recommend you to read this article: How JVM Works – JVM Architecture?

That’s the reason having the quantitative knowledge of a JVM will help you with problem-solving during development. Besides this, don’t forget to excel Java Virtual Machine system threads and the way Java is executed in the runtime environment. This is the path for you to become an advanced java developer.

*Note: Since we’re talking about Java, one shouldn’t forget about the concept of OOP, being a paradigm, you must understand and make a strong grip on its principles such as design patterns, inheritance, etc.

However, if you wish to get the in-depth knowledge of OOP, then consider reading these articles too,

• Object-Oriented Programming (OOPs) Concept in Java
• Four Main Object-Oriented Programming Concepts of Java
• Introduction of Object-Oriented Programming