12+ Java Practice Projects to Improve Your Programming Career Prospects
By: John Selawsky
Tags: Learning To Code, Java, Programming Languages, Programming, Coding

Photo by Firos nv on Unsplash

So, you’ve started to learn Java programming and wonder how to make the learning process faster and boost your career prospects. While reading books and watching tutorials on YouTube is a significant part of honing a new programming language, it may not be still that effective without being accompanied by the hands-on part. Java practices, tasks, and challenges are what can boost your coding skills and take you one step closer to your dream job.

To save you the hassle of surfing the Internet looking for the appropriate programs, I’ve created a list of Java project ideas that will brush up your skills. So, without any further delay, let’s get to the project ideas.

12+ Project Ideas to Edge Your Java Programming Skills

Project Ideas for Complete Beginners

1. Remake of the Classical Videogame

As soon as you polish at least basic knowledge of Java, it’s high time to start creating your own Java practice projects, say, reproducing a classical video game in your own way. Developing a game is not an easy task, but the CodeGym Games section with its step-by-step mini-courses will make it easier for you. The access to the section is free and divided into levels, so you can choose to write the one matching your current skills.

The games are not small tasks — they are fully-fledged projects split into twenty subtasks. To finish up the game, you need to complete each subtask one by one. The online platform allows you to create your own version of Mine Picker, Hungry Snake, 2048, Racer, and other games. Once it is ready, you can share a link to a published game with your fellow coders so that they can consider it and get back to you with feedback.

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2. Tic-Tac-Toe Game

I haven’t seen an easier game than this one. Tic-tac-toe game is not only easy to play, but it is also fairly easy to code up. Creating your own version of Tic-tac-toe assumes that you have a clear understanding of basic Java syntax and have access to a working Java editor. One of the easiest approaches for a programmer to build a project is to take Java Class, bind it to the GUI interface, or integrate right into the console app. The class code consists of three sections, including board functions, win conditions, and player functions.

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3. ATM System

ATM interface refers to a Java console system and allows creating the app to monitor transactions. While working on the project, you will pass five classes and get familiar with the account holder, account, bank translation, bank itself, and ATM.

Right after entering an identifier and pin, users can access records of every transaction, make deposits, withdrawals, and transfers.

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4. Currency Converter

This is another Java practice project best suited for novice specialists. It is used to convert currencies: the users enter a certain amount of money in one currency and set the currency they want to check the monetary value of.

The project has a web-based interface that ensures a simple visual experience for programmers when it comes to creating Java applications. While developing the app, the beginners can master classes, variables, algorithms, loops, if statements, and other Java concepts.

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Mid-Level Project Ideas

5. Grading System in Java

I also recommend expanding your list of Java practice projects with a grade processing system developed to help you edge your fundamental Java skills. Upon receiving the scores of quizzes, exams, tests, tasks for different subjects, the system outputs the results in the form of grades. An important point here is that the users can add as many subjects as they see fit.

All the necessary information about students, be it an assigned roll number or their names have its own fields in the interface, while students’ grades will be displayed along with the relative rank in their classes.

When creating the project, you will build it with Netbeans (or use the other IDE) using JTextField, JTextArea, JButtons, JPanels, JLabels, JOPtionPane, and other visual components.

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6. Intelligent Hospital System in Java

In terms of a pandemic situation, the hospital system has never been that relevant. Among other things, it can help health care professionals to approximate disease based on the symptoms added to the system.

Right after registration, the doctor, the major unit of the system, enters health records of the patient, including personal information, blood type and pressure, body weight, test results, and other details. Given the received data, the intelligent hospital system builds up a preliminary report on the patient’s health status.

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7. Word Counter in Java

When it comes to honing the knowledge of Java String and File Handling concepts, the Word Count tools project is good to go. It allows newcomers with previous experience in building projects to create a content writing interface with a built-in word count function. While the latter is quite ordinary, the programmers can come out of the box making the project more unconventional — all they need is just to implement new features by adding counting characters and words without whitespaces.

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8. Pharmacy Information System

Another project you can build is a pharmacy management system with a plain GUI. This medical store system allows its users to keep track of the drug store, add or remove items from there. The project is simple and consists of three modules, including:

CVS or Consumer Value Stores (American retail company) to monitor medical products and changes applied to the store;

Pharma to add as many new stores as you see fit;

Store Admin to add and change the number of drugs, etc.

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Advanced-Level Project Ideas

9. Email Application

As soon as you get familiar with the Java development environment and master at least OOPs, it’s high time to move further and create projects for advanced learners. The email application is one of them. Other than giving you a clear understanding of the Math.random method, the project also lets you sharpen encapsulation, one of the fundamental concepts in object-oriented programming.

When you finish your application, it should do the following:

Generate an email with firstname.lastname@department.company syntax.

Determine the department.

Generate a random String for a password.

Have methods to change the password, set the mailbox capacity, and define an alternative email address.

Have methods to showcase the name, email, and mailbox capacity.

To figure out how to do that, watch the video tutorial below.

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10. Super Mario Bros Clone

Have you played Super Mario in your childhood and now miss that game a lot? Keep your head up — I have good news for you. Android has recently launched a clone version of Super Mario Run based on Java and LibGDX framework.

LibGDX is an open-source project that programmers find perfect for learning to write coding games. This mini Java practice project will let you learn more about Game Loops, Sprites, Sprite Sheets, Texture Maps, Collision Detection, and other concepts. You’ll end up with a game that works perfectly on different platforms, including Android, iOS, and others.

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11. Sports Management Software

Creating a Sports Manager (SM) system will keep you excited, especially if you are fond of sports management. This Java project allows developing an interface used to handle sporting activities and schedule sports-related events for different educational institutions and organizations.

SM is a hassle-free option for those responsible for managing sports events, as well as controlling information related to players and trophies. SM admin has the right to edit all the necessary data, while users are allowed to consider players’ information and subscribe to preferred events. The active subscription allows users to get notified about the coming events by email.

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12. Flight Booking Software

Let’s face it: web-based online booking solutions are not something that can surprise people. But, you still have a chance to improve the system if you have ideas on how to do that effectively. An airline reservation system Java project will help you with that. Other than making it simple for users to view available seats and get flight records, the app allows proceeding with online payments. Although the project has no option to process the payment and cancel the booking, you still can add those options on your own.

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13. Library Management System

Now, you’ve got to designing MySQL databases. Other than sharpening the knowledge and skill of databases, you will also be able to create a system to make librarians’ work more efficient. The management system will automate manual processes and get all manually-configured data, including book inventory, titles, and genres, stored in one digital database.

When working on the software, you can add as many modules as possible to control library operations and let both librarians and students navigate the database with no hassle. To get to the needed book, they only need to enter the author’s name and title.

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Summing Things Up

As you might have noticed, all the projects are sorted by difficulty level. Sure, you can stop at one of them. But, I sincerely recommend not staying in the same place. Only upgrading your skills by creating projects of increasing complexity will help you boost your programming career and land the job of your dream.

Let me know if you’ve found these Java practice projects useful. And if you have other ideas at hand, feel free to share them.