Instead of learning Java, just learn Kotlin (kotlinlang.org/). It's going to give you a lot more of the utility you've probably come to expect that will minimize a lot of the boilerplate Java has (compared to Ruby and Python), but it's statically typed, and it has amazingly natural built in support for things like delegation, null-safety, and the ability to write asynchronous code as if you were writing synchronous code (this is a big deal). It has support for things like first order functions and more. A lot of the features I'm writing about here will probably not mean much to you because they are pretty dense concepts, but a lot of the things beginners want to do will be tripped up by not having these things.
A lot of beginners will bypass increased safety of these things to increase developer throughput at the cost of maintenance (hard to find runtime bugs in dynamic languages). Dynamic languages (with the exclusion of metaprogramming) are often easier to teach people and learn on. Some of them, like null-safety, was introduced to make common things or improve safety simply because Java is like that old dependable buick (lots of important stuff runs on Java. Changing the language drastically too quickly would be wildly problematic, and a lot of features in Kotlin create somewhat of a paradigm shift in terms of language interaction and expression).
There's a huge benefit to working with a statically typed language, especially as an application gets more complex. will allow your IDE and/or compiler to find issues for you at compile time. In Intellij IDEA, the premier IDE for Kotlin (It's a language written by Jetbrains, the people behind Intellij IDEA), the IDE will literally show you where you have errors beyond just malformed statements.
You can always go back and learn Java, but if you have no intention of diving into Java programming for a profession, it's not necessary. Kotlin and Java are interoperable and will remain that way. This means you can use Java libraries and call them from Kotlin or vice versa.
Kotlin has both .kt files and .kts (Kotlin scripts!). You can use kscript (github.com/holgerbrandl/kscript) to ease writing kotlin scripts to be used as scripts for *nix in very little time. Kotlin is the Google approved/official language for Android now. It's got a top commercial IDE developer working on it (Jetbrains - same people who have built an IDE with a projectional editor for writing DSLs - MPS).
Kotlin compiles to JS, JVM, and more. This means if you don't have an interest in learning tons of Javascript to make web apps, you don't have to.
Kotlin has a big strong community. If you need help, you'll find it easily. That said, some of their language documentation miiiight leave you scratching your head a little. I recommend going through a kotlin koans project to work your way up through practical examples that help you build on your concepts. This way each thing you learn is connected to a tangible result you will understand, which you can then use to demystify some of the language-design centric documentation they have (don't worry, it's not like they just posted up grammars XD)
Disclosure
I am in no way affiliated with Kotlin.
What is my background? I've done Python programming in a professional environment. I even used Django with a host of other tech in building a real time, progressive, reactive web app (a realtime collaboration and status reporting google sheets like test case management software app).
I've done Kotlin programming as a part of working on an opengl/webgl cross-platform jvm desktop/mobile-web/desktop-web UI framework that is write once, runs anywhere using Kotlin's built in language support for what they call multiplatform modules (Acorn UI - github.com/polyforest/acornui).
Oh, also, there's a community edition of Intellij IDE so you don't have to sacrifice on ease (Open Source projects can use their commercial products for free if they qualify). The community editions (I would recommend Pycharm if you go with Python for sure, and a paid license is /very very/ affordable, though not necessary) are not as souped up as their commercial offerings, but are still fully featured IDEs (typically the paying editions have first level support for an expanded offering of frameworks, etc). I believe RubyMine (which I don't have personal experience with but shares some core features with the rest of the IDEs) doesn't have a community edition? But don't quote me on that.
Woah! That's one hell of a reply. Thank you so much :) I've been doing some work this semester at Uni in C++ and it's not that good imho, but Kotlin was something I was looking into :)
I"ll take all this into mind, thank you! :D
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Instead of learning Java, just learn Kotlin (kotlinlang.org/). It's going to give you a lot more of the utility you've probably come to expect that will minimize a lot of the boilerplate Java has (compared to Ruby and Python), but it's statically typed, and it has amazingly natural built in support for things like delegation, null-safety, and the ability to write asynchronous code as if you were writing synchronous code (this is a big deal). It has support for things like first order functions and more. A lot of the features I'm writing about here will probably not mean much to you because they are pretty dense concepts, but a lot of the things beginners want to do will be tripped up by not having these things.
A lot of beginners will bypass increased safety of these things to increase developer throughput at the cost of maintenance (hard to find runtime bugs in dynamic languages). Dynamic languages (with the exclusion of metaprogramming) are often easier to teach people and learn on. Some of them, like null-safety, was introduced to make common things or improve safety simply because Java is like that old dependable buick (lots of important stuff runs on Java. Changing the language drastically too quickly would be wildly problematic, and a lot of features in Kotlin create somewhat of a paradigm shift in terms of language interaction and expression).
There's a huge benefit to working with a statically typed language, especially as an application gets more complex. will allow your IDE and/or compiler to find issues for you at compile time. In Intellij IDEA, the premier IDE for Kotlin (It's a language written by Jetbrains, the people behind Intellij IDEA), the IDE will literally show you where you have errors beyond just malformed statements.
You can always go back and learn Java, but if you have no intention of diving into Java programming for a profession, it's not necessary. Kotlin and Java are interoperable and will remain that way. This means you can use Java libraries and call them from Kotlin or vice versa.
Kotlin has both .kt files and .kts (Kotlin scripts!). You can use kscript (github.com/holgerbrandl/kscript) to ease writing kotlin scripts to be used as scripts for *nix in very little time. Kotlin is the Google approved/official language for Android now. It's got a top commercial IDE developer working on it (Jetbrains - same people who have built an IDE with a projectional editor for writing DSLs - MPS).
Kotlin compiles to JS, JVM, and more. This means if you don't have an interest in learning tons of Javascript to make web apps, you don't have to.
Kotlin has a big strong community. If you need help, you'll find it easily. That said, some of their language documentation miiiight leave you scratching your head a little. I recommend going through a kotlin koans project to work your way up through practical examples that help you build on your concepts. This way each thing you learn is connected to a tangible result you will understand, which you can then use to demystify some of the language-design centric documentation they have (don't worry, it's not like they just posted up grammars XD)
Disclosure
I am in no way affiliated with Kotlin.
What is my background? I've done Python programming in a professional environment. I even used Django with a host of other tech in building a real time, progressive, reactive web app (a realtime collaboration and status reporting google sheets like test case management software app).
I've done Kotlin programming as a part of working on an opengl/webgl cross-platform jvm desktop/mobile-web/desktop-web UI framework that is write once, runs anywhere using Kotlin's built in language support for what they call multiplatform modules (Acorn UI - github.com/polyforest/acornui).
Oh, also, there's a community edition of Intellij IDE so you don't have to sacrifice on ease (Open Source projects can use their commercial products for free if they qualify). The community editions (I would recommend Pycharm if you go with Python for sure, and a paid license is /very very/ affordable, though not necessary) are not as souped up as their commercial offerings, but are still fully featured IDEs (typically the paying editions have first level support for an expanded offering of frameworks, etc). I believe RubyMine (which I don't have personal experience with but shares some core features with the rest of the IDEs) doesn't have a community edition? But don't quote me on that.
Woah! That's one hell of a reply. Thank you so much :) I've been doing some work this semester at Uni in C++ and it's not that good imho, but Kotlin was something I was looking into :)
I"ll take all this into mind, thank you! :D