10/14/22, 9:12 PM (10) I want to be a Java back end dev, I think I finally got Java under my belt, whats

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Posted by u/raulalexo99 9 months ago 

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77 I want to be a Java back end dev, I think I finally got Java under my belt, whats next?
 Where to go now?

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alreadytaken66 · 9 mo. ago · edited 9 mo. ago

Take a look at this guide created by u/stylusc84 : https://www.devoxify.com/posts/the-definitive-guide-to-java-

backend-developer-career-path/

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Loxlow · 9 mo. ago

Thank you for that

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FilsdeJESUS · 9 mo. ago

Thanks for that

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gigabyteIO · 9 mo. ago

This is awesome. Thanks.

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PatTheHooman · 9 mo. ago

Thanks for this!

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AggravatedSloth1 · 9 mo. ago

Wouldn't knowing all this stuff basically make you a full-fledged Java developer?

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[deleted] · 9 mo. ago

this is very good.

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10/14/22, 9:12 PM (10) I want to be a Java back end dev, I think I finally got Java under my belt, whats next? : learnjava
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aSwanson96 · 9 mo. ago

Spring and database skills. create a web API, connect it to a DB, create endpoints to create users. Create some cool
services, like emailing your users after they sign up, or sending them an SMS. Use public APIs in your project like
Stripe or Google Maps or something. And unit test everything. Make sure you’re using version control too.

It’s also good to learn the theory behind what you’re doing. How does Dependency Injection actually work, what’s
going on with your APIs middleware, what actually is Spring? How does it work? How will your API communicate with
the front end? What goes into a HTTP request? What’s a JWT token? Can you create a JWT token?

Then take it a step beyond and use the cloud through Azure or AWS or something. Deploy your API to a live site, use a
live database, set up CI/CD to build and test your code when you create a pull request and push to your repository,
then deploy your changes to the live site.

The list goes on but this kind of thinking will put you in a very good place. Good luck

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MyNoGoodReason · 9 mo. ago

JWT token seems weird. The T is redundant.

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greglturnquist · 9 mo. ago

I actually made a view on this…

https://youtu.be/3D404s9QnVo

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calmonad · 9 mo. ago

Alright, I've kinda been waiting to drunkenly reply to another post like this. While everyone else's suggestions of
learning 3rd party libraries sounds fun, I want to take a different approach, and step back a little from the language
and libraries themselves. Libraries are pretty easy to learn once you have a basic understanding of the language and
software concepts in general. I think that 3rd party libraries are easy to teach in the context of supporting an existing
application. These are the things that I wish the developer sitting next to me (and before me) to know.

Know your ecosystem...

Know your runtime at least well enough to set it up and use it in your environments.
Be comfortable and proficient in the IDE that you choose. I see too many developers that that use IDE XYZ
(Eclipse), because that is what they learned from shit antiquated tutorials, but they still have no idea how to get
around their IDE.
Learn how to use the debugging and code navigation features in your IDE.
Know your build/package manager (whether Maven or Gradle, I don't care).
Know your VCS. Again, don't really care which one, as long as you can use it in a way that aligns with your team's
expectations.
Know how to build, deploy, and run an artifact for your project.
Know the OS that you are developing on and deploying to. Be comfortable in the command line and know how
to navigate the filesystem. I've encountered too many issues where a previous developer did not understand
that the Linux filesystems are case-sensitive where Windows is not.
Try to abide by your language's (and team's) conventional coding styles. Oracle has some older documentation
on this, but the Google Java Style Guide seems to be more commonplace.

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10/14/22, 9:12 PM (10) I want to be a Java back end dev, I think I finally got Java under my belt, whats next? : learnjava
Be comfortable with reading and searching for documentation, whether
10 JavaDoc or other.
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that are useful to you in your language's standard library, and practice using them to achieve

cleaner code. There is no reason to have a 100 line method of spaghetti if/else/for loops to parse a date from a
String if you can do it with the stdlib in 2 lines.
Figure out how to break down your problems and code into smaller pieces, and how to
communicate/demonstrate/reproduce them. If you ask me whats wrong in this 500 line method, I'm likely to tell
you to go away. Show me a concise unit test that reliable reproduces an error, and describes exactly what you
are expecting, and I would be more happy to help.

I don't mean for this to come across as hostile towards OP or others in any way, just ideas that I've had while reading
r/learnjava and while supporting an existing application. I want to support my fellow developer in solving the business
problems that are important to the customer, and would prefer that the fellow developer has a solid grasp on
handling basic technical issues on their own.

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winginglifelikeaboss · 9 mo. ago

Spring boot

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tbone912 · 9 mo. ago

Oh, you're gonna love Spring Boot. It sucks to learn, it really does. But what it does for you is amazing. Udemy had a
good free course on it; I'd start there.

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Mark_Unlikely · 9 mo. ago

Learn how to write clean code. Doing so will put you ahead of so many people. It is insane how many people do not
know how to write clean code. I recommend reading "Clean Code" by Robert C. Martin

Then learn Spring MVC

Learn object oriented design patterns

Then sharpen your skills with data structures and algorithms - I say this one last because often job interviews will
require you to do some algorithmic problem of some sort. Basically do this any time before searching for a job in
order to increase the likelihood of getting hired.

Don't forget soft-skills as well. You need to know how to be nice to other people. Don't be an a-hole if you want to be
on any well-functioning team.

Also, just know that the learning never ends. This is a job that you have to continuously learn in.

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zultdush · 9 mo. ago

Kotlin lol

Spring is where the action is in java imo. Give spring boot a go and start cranking out micro services. Also learn about
micro services

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raulalexo99 OP · 9 mo. ago

Is the Kotlin line a joke or an actual tip?

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zultdush · 9 mo. ago

Both. :)

I was diehard Java on my team and really didn't want to adopt Kotlin. When I saw how beautiful the data classes
made DTOs I converted.

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TwoWasabi · 9 mo. ago

Why not flutter though? It's under Google as well and more trendier than Kotlin according to Google search trend.

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zultdush · 9 mo. ago

Flutter might be amazing, I wouldn't know. I can tell you Kotlin is excellent tho.

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TriangleMan · 9 mo. ago

Question for the others: is a Spring Boot REST API considered backend? Does that change if the API connects to a
MySQL DB?

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GrandGratingCrate · 9 mo. ago

Assuming your SpringBoot project is a backend (and it usually is) then it's REST API is also backend.

And an REST API does not connect to anything in particular; its offering other apps / users to connect to you. Who's
calling you your application has no control over (you can still reject their requests of course).

Now you can call the REST API of a MySQL DB via REST calls, then it is you making the connection. I'd not call that a
REST API of your app and it's usually called from the backend are the two things I'd say to that.

I hope that answers your question. I'm not 100% sure I understood it correctly so if I'm just totally missing the
point someone feel free to correct me.

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TriangleMan · 9 mo. ago

I appreciate the time; thank you! I was more wondering from a nomenclature/naming convention standpoint. I
was originally taught that the client-side UI (maybe a webpage) is referred to as the frontend and the DB as
backend. So I'm wondering what a REST API that sits in between them is called and whether my original FE/BE
dichotomy is even accurate

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GrandGratingCrate · 9 mo. ago

The way I see it used frontend is what you described, backend IS the thing in between the frontend and the
db and the db is the db.

(strictly speaking the backend need not connect to any datasource, but it usally connects to a db)

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10/14/22, 9:12 PM (10) I want to be a Java back end dev, I think I finally got Java under my belt, whats next? : learnjava
AxeyEndres · 9 mo. ago 10
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Marcelo_Abrahao · 8 mo. ago

Ow... So many contributions!!! it's a long way, but not impossible. I'm in this trail too. Here a visual roadmap:
https://roadmap.sh/java

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2Cringe4Me · 8 mo. ago

Understand the real fundamentals of Java, such as what it means to be a JIT language, and how you could use that to
your benefit when writing code. These are common interview questions if you’re looking to do that, otherwise it’s just
good knowledge to have and has helped me before!

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