What Learning Java Has Taught Me
By: Varsha Kumar
Java is considered one of the first programming languages that many learn and take. Many are, in fact, familiar with the classic System.out.println(“Hello World.”) In addition, Java will continue to be relevant (as far as most can predict), and it is clear that Java is here to stay, as still present in the frameworks of Minecraft, Netflix, Spotify, and other big apps. Java is valuable as a first programming language for a reason.
I first learned Java at AP Computer Science A and then later took a community college class that was a continuation of it. Here’s what I learned.
- Object-Oriented Programming Language
Java is an object-oriented language, meaning that the code is organized around data or “objects” rather than just functions and logic. This allows for reusability, inheritance, and other big concepts that are essential to master, since most programming projects will be object-oriented-based, although procedural programming and data-oriented design are still there and important to learn for advanced programmers.
- Data Structures
When I thought AP CSA had taught me a lot, I was wrong. That community college class was a continuation. Well, oh wow, I learned about stacks, queues, graphs, trees, nodes, etc. That definitely was difficult, but it did prepare me a lot for data structures, for it allows students to create faster algorithms, reduce memory usage, solve complex problems, and write maintainable code. Java is often a good path to learning data structures and is essential for most programmers.
- Resilience
Yes, Java is great, not because of its skills but its resilience, which one needs when learning programming. For example, you might have an error, well, because you missed a semicolon (which, as a Java programmer, is one of the most annoying things to find). Java is syntactically complex, but not too complex to ward off beginners, which teaches beginners how to look for errors and problems without driving them away.
Overall, Java is currently modern, usable, and difficult, but easy enough for beginners. If you are looking for a language to learn, try Java, which is perfect, modern, and the best beginner language for 2026.