Top 12 Java Developer Skills That You Must Have in 2024

Are you someone aspiring to be a Java Developer? Java is one of the sought-after domains these days in the developer fields. In this article, we have summarized the important Java developer skills one must possess in 2024 to build a successful career.

Java is the most commonly used programming language for many years. Java is a high-level, robust, object-oriented programming language. Java is used to construct applications in various devices such as laptops, data centers, game consoles, scientific supercomputers, cell phones, etc. Further, the core characteristic of java is its ability to work on any platform without the need to be recompiled. Now let’s understand who are Java Developers.

Who are Java Developers?

Java Developers design and manage websites and web apps with a Java foundation. They collaborate with SDEs to produce captivating, superior, inventive, and intuitive Java applications. They carry out code testing, debugging, and deployment that satisfies customer demands or industry standards. They troubleshoot and debug to make sure it is free from error. The majority of Java developers hold bachelor’s degrees in computer science or related subjects, strong professional certifications, and impressive projects.

Top 12 Java Developer Skills That You Must Have in 2024

Discover the essential Java Developer skills for 2024. Master these top skills to excel in Java development, boost your career prospects, and stay ahead in the competitive industry. These skills are very important for building robust applications and contributing to cutting-edge projects, ensuring your success in Java programming. Now, here are the Top 12 Java Developer Skills That You Must Have in 2024

1. Understanding the Java Ecosystem

Java ecosystem is a software platform containing the collection of resources and other essentials for the creation of various applications. The Java Ecosystem is mainly composed of three parts namely:

• The Java Virtual Machine (JVM) – JVM loads, verifies, and executes Java Bytecode, thus providing a run-time environment. It also manages and optimizes the program memory.
• The Java Runtime Environment (JRE) – JRE is said to be the communicative link between the Java program and the operating system. It provides libraries and other resources/tools required for the program to run ideally.
• The Java Developer Kit (JDK) – JDK is a combination of JVM and JRE along with software development tools and supporting libraries.

Only when we understand the ecosystem, we can make the best use of it to create our application. 

2. Object Oriented Programming Concepts

As we know, Java is an object-oriented programming language that is, it uses the object as a primary entity and performs various activities. The basic object-oriented programming concepts include the following.

• Object – It is an entity that has a state (property) and behavior (function). An object is an instance of a class.
• Class – It is a template or blueprint of an object. It is a collection of objects of similar type. Further, a class is a user-defined datatype.
• Inheritance – When one object (subclass) acquires all the properties & behavior of the parent object (superclass), it is known as inheritance. It provides code reusability.
• Polymorphism – It is the ability to take more than one form. It occurs when we have many classes that are related to each other by inheritance. It is two types namely, compile-time polymorphism and runtime polymorphism.
• Abstraction – It refers to the act of representing the essential features without including background details.
• Encapsulation – It is the wrapping up of data and methods into a single unit. Eg Java class.

Having in-depth knowledge of the OOPs concept is essential while working with an object-oriented programming language. Hence learn all of the concepts with suited illustrations and programs.

To know more about this, please refer to the article – Object-Oriented Programming in Java.

3. MVC Pattern

Model – View – Controller Pattern, abbreviated as MVC pattern is a design pattern in the development of applications. The model represents the object, the view provides the picturization of the data that the model contains vis the schemas or flowcharts, and the controller is said to control both i.e, manipulate the model or update the view.

To know more about this, please refer to the article – MVC Design Pattern in Java.

4. Java GUI Frameworks

Frameworks are software tools that help developers to add additional functionalities to the code, making it easy and comfortable to work on. There are several Java frameworks, one among them is the GUI framework. GUI refers to the Graphic User Interface that is in direct contact with the client. Hence it has to be attractive and user-friendly. The best Java GUI frameworks for this purpose are AWT, Swing, JavaFX, Apache Pivot, etc. It is good to know about various frameworks and choose the one that is best suited for your application. Here, we have given a note about two of the frameworks.

• AWT – Java AWT (Abstract Window Toolkit) is an API to develop GUI or window-based applications in java. AWT is heavyweight i.e. its components are using the resources of OS. The java. awt package provides classes for AWT api such as TextField, Label, TextArea, RadioButton, CheckBox, Choice, List, etc. 
• Swing – Java Swing is a part of Java Foundation Classes (JFC) that is used to create window-based applications. It is built on top of AWT (Abstract Windowing Toolkit) API and entirely written in java. Unlike AWT, Java Swing provides platform-independent and lightweight components. The javax. swing package provides classes for java swing API such as JButton, JTextField, JTextArea, JRadioButton, etc.
• JavaFX- A modern UI toolkit for Java applications called JavaFX is intended to take the place of Swing as the default GUI library. JavaFX provides a rich toolkit to create innovative, aesthetically pleasing user interfaces (UI). JavaFX is completely written in Java, unlike Swing, and provides robust support for multimedia, 2D and 3D graphics, animation, and contemporary UI features.

5. Java Libraries

Java libraries are a collection of pre-written classes. Java class library is loaded dynamically and called whenever required by the Java virtual machine (JVM). Maven, Google-JSON, JUnit, Apache Commons, etc are the most common java libraries used. It is important to add java libraries because the program is not directly linked to the operating system (As Java is platform-independent). 

To know about the best Java Libraries, please refer to the article – Top 10 Libraries in the Java.

6. Java Keywords

In any programming language we take, the integral component will be its syntax and keywords. Keywords are reserved words that are predefined and mean a particular function or action to the compiler. They are used everywhere, say, to declare a class, instantiate an object, define a method, use access specifiers, exception handling, etc. Catch, char, class, private, const, etc are a few keywords used in java.

7. Database Connectivity

A database is a hub of information stored in an organized fashion, easy to search and retrieve. Java Database Connectivity or JDBC is a Java API to connect and executes the query with the database, acting as a bridge between the code and the database. The JDBC interface consists of two layers namely, JDBC API and JDBC driver. The former supports communication between the Java application and the JDBC manager and the latter supports communication between the JDBC manager and the database driver. Knowledge about JDBC is essential as it plays a pivotal role in storing the information and using it in the application.

8. Java Concurrency Patterns

Multithreading and multitasking programming paradigms are design patterns that fall under the Java Concurrency Patterns. Thread is a sequential flow of control within a program. Sometimes it is called an execution context or a lightweight process.

• Multithreading – A multithreaded program contains two or more parts that can run concurrently and parallelly. Each part of such a program is called a d thread and each thread defines the separate path of execution.
• Multi-tasking – Executing several tasks simultaneously is called multi-tasking. The main goal of multi-tasking is to make or do a better performance of a system by reducing response time. It may be process-based or thread based.

Multithreading is lightweight and easy to create whereas multi-tasking is heavyweight and harder to create. Studying these concurrency patterns makes code execution easy and effective.

9. Java Server Pages and Servlets

JSP is a server-side technology almost similar to PHP and ASP but written in Java programming language. It lets the user embed java code into HTML pages using the JSP tags. A servlet is a small Java program that runs within a Web server. In layman’s terms, a Servlet is a class that handles requests, processes them, and replies with a response. For instance, to collect input from a user through an HTML form, query records from a database, and create web pages dynamically, a servlet is used. It is a little faster than JSP as the translation from JSP to java code takes time.

To summarize, both are web development techniques playing an important role on the server side. Hence these are also the essential concept a java developer must know.

10. Exception handling

An exception is an unwanted event that interrupts the normal flow of the program. When an exception occurs, program execution gets terminated. This can be handled by the code of the program. Exceptions can be classified as checked and unchecked.

• Checked – A class extends throwable class is known as a checked exception. Checked exceptions are checked at compile time.
• Unchecked – The classes that extend run time exceptions are known as unchecked exceptions. They are checked at runtime.

Exception handling in Java is one of the powerful mechanisms to handle run-time errors. So, the normal flow of the application can be maintained. Try, catch, throw, throws, and finally are the five major keywords used in java exception handling.

Error, on the other hand, is a critical condition that cannot be handled by the code of the program.

11. Testing Platforms

Testing tools are applications that help developers and testers in performing manual and automated tests. Likewise, there are many testing tools for Java codes. They include JUnit, Mockito, Selenium, FitNesse, etc. Testing is also of different types like unit testing, integration testing, functional testing, acceptance testing, performance testing, etc. JUnit is a Java framework that provides unit testing. Testing the application is as important as its creation. Hence understanding the testing platforms, types, and their uses is another most important Java developer skill.

12. Java Building Tools

A Java developer must have deep knowledge of Java build tools. Build tools provide a wide range of building automation tasks from compilation to testing. The most popular Java build tools include Ant and Maven. Both of them can run in different IDEs like IntelliJ, Eclipse, or NetBeans.

Conclusion

In conclusion, a strong understanding of various fundamental abilities will be very necessary for Java development in 2024. These generally include understanding object-oriented programming ideas, the MVC design, and the Java environment. Proficiency with Java libraries, keywords, database connectivity, and GUI frameworks is also essential. Understanding Java concurrency patterns, Java Server Pages (JSP) and servlets, as well as exception handling and testing platforms, is also important. Also, a Java developer should be well-versed in Java building tools like Ant and Maven. By gaining these skills, developers can always stay competitive and build their successful careers in field Java development.