You need 3 tools Get a good book. Mala Gupta OCA Java SE 8 Programmer I Certification Ge Mala Gupta 9781617293252 Books s is a good one. Cay S. Horstmann Core Java Volume I--Fundamentals (1th Edition) (Core Series) Cay S. Horstmann 97813417734 Books s is an other good one. (My advice go for the most thorough book which is deep in the topic 3 don bother with introductory books that leave fundamental issues open.) Get a good IDE and practice continuously. Some suggest raw editors 3 I think a fully fledged IDE is better for a beginner (too) (especially for Java 3 a good IDE automatically generates boilerplate codes for you). IntelliJ IDEA is clearly the best here; I also like Netbeans a lot. Practice a lot! ordered-list Now use the three resources above together in parallel. Either watch a part on Udemy and then read the details in the book; or 3 what I prefer 3 read the respective chapter from the book first and then watch the Udemy video on the same topic. Always learn keeping your IDE open and try each and every features yourself. Build small programspile and run them. For reading I personally use Readdle PDF Software for Mac. The Best PDF Editor | PDF Expert s both on Mac and iPad. I personally prefer reading on my iPad. If you are a visual learner highlight s in multiple colors. Here is my battle-tested learning method I try to construct full sentences from the highlights . That is a shortened version of the book 3 which contains only the most important points. It is a very good method because you force your brain not only to read and understand carefully but also to construct something new. And 3 later you can literally read the whole book again within half an hour (reading only the highlighted sentences). Last advice set yourself (certification) goals e.g. Oracle Java Certification with a deadline. It motivates you to learn every day and not only reading but also actually learning.