Fast Track to Core Java 17 Programming for OO Developers

Learning Objectives

This course combines engaging instructor-led presentations and useful demonstrations with valuable hands-on labs and engaging group activities. Throughout the course you’ll:

• Understand the fundamentals of the Java platform, its lifecycle, and the responsibilities of the Java Virtual Machine (JVM), enabling you to create efficient and reliable Java applications.
• Gain proficiency in using the JDK, including navigating its file structure, utilizing the command-line compiler, and executing Java applications, ensuring a smooth development process.
• Master the IDE, including its interface, project management, and module creation, to enhance productivity, collaboration, and overall development workflow.
• Develop solid skills in writing Java classes, defining instance variables, creating object instances, and implementing main methods, forming a strong foundation in Java programming.
• Acquire expertise in adding methods to Java classes, writing constructors, and leveraging the 'this' keyword, allowing you to create more sophisticated and customizable Java applications.
• Comprehend and apply core object-oriented programming concepts, such as encapsulation, inheritance, and polymorphism, to create modular, maintainable, and reusable code.
• Enhance your knowledge of Java language statements, including arithmetic, comparison, and logical operators, as well as loops and switch expressions, to develop more complex and efficient Java applications.
• Learn to effectively handle exceptions, create custom exception classes, and use try/catch blocks to ensure the robustness and reliability of your Java applications, minimizing potential runtime issues.
• Explore and understand the Java Modular System and its impacts on accessibility and visibility.
• Gain proficiency in working with collections in Java, which includes learning about the different collection implementations (Set, List, and Queue), using iterators, and sorting collections. This will enable you to manage data effectively in your Java programs

Specific Java 17 features that are covered in the course include:

• Switch Expressions
• Text blocks
• Pattern matching for instanceof
• Introduce records as carrier of immutable data

Specific Java 21 features that are covered in the course include:

• Sequenced Collections
• Pattern matching in Switch statements
• Record Patterns

Audience

This course is designed to quickly help experienced programmers transition their existing object oriented development skills (from C++, C# .Net, etc.) to Java. This course is not for non-OO developers, very new  or non-developers.

Pre-Requisites

To ensure a smooth learning experience and maximize the benefits of attending this course, you should have prior hands-on programming experience in another OO programming language such as C# or C++. 

Course Outline

1. The Java Platform

• Introduce the Java Platform
• Explore the Java Standard Edition
• Discuss the lifecycle of a Java Program
• Explain the responsibilities of the JVM
• Executing Java programs
• Garbage Collection
• Documentation and Code Reuse

2. Using the JDK

• Explain the JDK’s file structure
• Use the command line compiler to compile a Java class
• Use the command line Java interpreter to run a Java application class

3. Using the IntelliJ IDE

• Introduce the IntelliJ IDE
• The Basics of the IntelliJ interface
• IntelliJ Projects and Modules
• Creating and running Java applications
• Tutorial: Exploring your IDE ( with IntelliJ 2023.2 (Community Edition) or Eclipse IDE

4. Writing a Simple Class

• Write a Java class that does not explicitly extend another class
• Define instance variables for a Java class
• Create object instances
• Primitives vs Object References
• Implement a main method to create an instance of the defined class
• Java keywords and reserved words

5. Adding Methods to the Class

• Write a class with accessor methods to read and write instance variables
• Write a constructor to initialize an instance with data
• Write a constructor that calls other constructors of the class to benefit from code reuse
• Use the this keyword to distinguish local variables from instance variables

6. Language Statements

• Arithmetic operators
• Operators to increment and decrement numbers
• Comparison operators
• Logical operators
• Return type of comparison and logical operators
• Use for loops
• Switch Expressions
• Switch Expressions and yield

7. Using Strings and Text Blocks

• Create an instance of the String class
• Test if two strings are equal
• Perform a case-insensitive equality test
• Contrast String, StringBuffer, and StringBuilder
• Compact Strings
• Text Blocks
• Unicode support
• Lab: Fun with Strings
• Lab: Using StringBuffers and StringBuilders

8. Fields and Variables

• Discuss Block Scoping Rules
• Distinguish between instance variables and method variables within a method
• Explain the difference between the terms field and variable
• List the default values for instance variables
• Final and Static fields and methods

9. Specializing in a Subclass

• Constructing a class that extends another class
• Implementing equals and toString
• Writing constructors that pass initialization data to parent constructor
• Using instanceof to verify type of an object reference
• Overriding subclass methods
• Pattern matching for instanceof
• Safely casting references to a more refined type

10. Using Arrays

• Declaring an array reference
• Allocating an array
• Initializing the entries in an array
• Writing methods with a variable number of arguments

11. Records

• Data objects in Java
• Introduce records as carrier of immutable data
• Defining records
• The Canonical constructor
• Compact constructors

12. Java Packages and Visibility

• Use the package keyword to define a class within a specific package
• Discuss levels of accessibility/visibility
• Using the import keyword to declare references to classes in a specific package
• Using the standard type naming conventions
• Introduce the Java Modular System
• Visibility in the Java Modular System

13. Utility Classes

• Introduce the wrapper classes
• Explain Autoboxing and Unboxing
• Converting String representations of primitive numbers into their primitive types
• Defining Enumerations
• Using static imports
• Introduce the Date/Time API
• LocalDate / LocalDateTime etc.
• Apply text formatting
• Using System.out.printf

14. Inheritance and Polymorphism

• Write a subclass with a method that overrides a method in the superclass
• Group objects by their common supertype
• Utilize polymorphism
• Cast a supertype reference to a valid subtype reference
• Use the final keyword on methods and classes to prevent overriding

15. Interfaces and Abstract Classes

• Define supertype contracts using abstract classes
• Implement concrete classes based on abstract classes
• Define supertype contracts using interfaces
• Implement concrete classes based on interfaces
• Explain advantage of interfaces over abstract classes
• Explain advantage of abstract classes over interfaces

16. Sealed Classes

• Introduce sealed classes
• The sealed and permits modifier
• Sealed interfaces
• Sealed classes and pattern matching

17. Pattern Matching

• Pattern Matching in switch statements
• Pattern Matching and sealed classes
• Record Patterns

18. Introduction to Exception Handling

• Introduce the Exception architecture
• Defining a try/catch blocks
• Checked vs Unchecked exceptions

19. Exceptions

• Defining your own application exceptions
• Automatic closure of resources
• Suppressed exceptions
• Handling multiple exceptions in one catch
• Enhanced try-with-resources
• Helpful NullPointerException(s)

20. Building Java Applications

• Explain the steps involved in building applications
• Define the build process
• Introduce build scripts
• Explain the standard folder layout
• Resolving project dependencies
• Tutorial: Importing code Using Maven

21. Introduction to Generics

• Generics and Subtyping
• Bounded Wildcards
• Generic Methods

22. Introducing Lambda Expressions and Functional Interfaces

• Understanding the concept of functional programming
• Understanding functional interfaces
• Lambda's and type inference

23. Collections

• Provide an overview of the Collection API
• Review the different collection implementations (Set, List and Queue)
• Explore how generics are used with collections
• Examine iterators for working with collections

24. Using Collections

• Collection Sorting
• Comparators
• Using the Right Collection
• Lambda expressions in Collections
• Sequenced Collections

Bonus Topics / Time Permitting

Streams

• Understanding the problem with collections in Java
• Thinking of program solutions in a declarative way
• Use the Stream API to process collections of data
• Understand the difference between intermediate and terminal stream operations
• Filtering elements from a Stream
• Finding element(s) within a Stream
• Collecting the elements from a Stream into a List

Collectors

• Using different ways to collect the items from a Stream
• Grouping elements within a stream
• Gathering statistics about numeric property of elements in a stream