In the ever growing world of the Internet, learning programming became quite a fruitful job opportunity. Although I wouldn’t call myself a professional programmer by far, I was always interested in learning the basics at least – especially Java. Since I don’t have the time to completely dedicate myself to any Java tutorial or any other programming language, I decided to check out if there’s a way to learn 101 of Java without spending too much time or money.

While going through quite a number of online courses I stumbled upon a few apps claiming to offer the right education. This gave me an idea to dig deeper and check out other apps in hopes of finding some that might be worth my while. Finally, I found a helpful site that lists supposed top 10 Java learning apps. Here’s the list if you want to check it out.

Best 10 Apps for Java Coding by Appgrooves

After an extensive search, I picked 3 apps I found to be the best.

SoloLearn – A Fun Way to Learn Programming

The first that caught my eye was an eye-catchy design. This, of course, doesn’t tell much about app’s functionality, but I like to think if developers put time into the design, they also put the time in the features. You start by creating a profile and then you’re off. SoloLearn is one of those apps that embraces the gamification approach to learn, in other words, giving the educational experience a gaming touch. And I got to say I like it. You level up each time you answer questions correctly and there’s even an option to compete against other players/students! Finally, you can also interact with other people. All in all, I found SoloLearn to have all the right features to make learning less stressful.

The only thing I didn’t like is ads that sometimes pop up in the middle of a lesson. I understand the need for ads since the app is free, but I think they can be put more “strategically”. Maybe at the end of the lesson because while the ad ends I already forget where I last stopped. Besides that, I didn’t find any other problem.

Udemy – Learn Java & a Bit More

If you ever decided to learn something online, you probably heard of Udemy. I know it’s a quite known learning platform, but the reason I felt I had to include this one is the polished design. And besides Java, you can learn basically anything. There are both paid and free version and although you’ll get more out of the paid one, you shouldn’t ignore the free version. I love how everything is designed to be like a virtual classroom, minus the need to prepare yourself for the class – you can learn in your shorts in your bed if you want. But the main feature I like the most is the possibility to download lessons and learn offline. This automatically opens more doors as you can learn on the go without worrying if your mobile internet will deplete.

I’m not entirely sure if it depends on the phone you have or Udemy’s software, but videos tend to run a bit slow from time to time. I also decided to pay for a course and was greeted by an error. Granted, when I tried the second time everything was perfect, but the error message did leave me worried for a second. Everything else is great and I have to mention Udemy’s customer’s service. They answered my question quickly, giving all the needed info. So overall, this is another great Java learning app. Actually, it’s an learning app for more than just Java.

Programming Hub – All Programming Languages in a Single Place

For those of you who want to learn programming, but not entirely sure which one, I decided to include this app. While initially going through the app I believe I counted around 12 types of programming languages you can learn. Besides having a nice quiz to test your knowledge and the course, the great thing about Programming Hub is that it also comes with the option to write your own code. So besides the theoretical knowledge, you also get the possibility to test your chops.

Now, in comparison to the first two, I’d say Programming Hub is the least “user-friendly”. This doesn’t make it a bad app in any way, especially if you already have some knowledge and want to improve. But if you’re a complete beginner who wants to focus on Java, I suggest going with one of the first two. But, if you want an extra challenge and you want to learn more, then Programming Hub would be the way to go.
 
So, these are my top 3 java learning apps. I tried to pick the best I could find and make sure each one is a bit different. SoloLearn is great if you want to learn through fun, Udemy if you want to learn something more outside programming, and as I said, Programming Hub is great if you really want to develop your programming knowledge. Good luck!