Training Curriculum for Junior Programmers
Tags: programming, beginners, training, java
Published: 2021-05-27 13:42:45

#1. Overview#

**Many of us are self-taught programmers in software development. Therefore, we often require a curriculum to learn and master the art of programming.**

*Not only a curriculum helps to achieve the learning goal efficiently but, it promotes self-discipline too.*

In this article, we'll discuss a Training Curriculum for Full Stack Java Programmers (Junior).

*Such a curriculum is usually used in companies like [TCS](https://www.tcs.com/) and [Infosys](https://www.infosys.com/) to groom fresh talents joining as Trainee Engineers (or Freshers). It helps them to learn software development, improves efficiency, and makes them ready for future assignments.*

{% link https://dev.to/smartyansh/what-all-i-ve-tried-in-my-8-years-of-programming-544c %}

#2. Training Curriculum#

This training curriculum is in two phases - Foundation and Advanced Phase.

**Foundation Phase focuses on concept building through theory and quick hands-on.**

Furthermore, **the Advanced Phase lets the programmers create an end-to-end web application utilizing all the learnings of the Foundation Phase**.

#3. Foundation Phase#

The foundation phase is about learning the [Java programming language](https://www.tutorialspoint.com/java/java_quick_guide.htm) along with [OOP concepts](https://www.javatpoint.com/java-oops-concepts) and advanced features like 
[Collections](https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/collections-in-java-2/), [Multi-Threading](https://www.javatpoint.com/multithreading-in-java), [Garbage Collection](https://www.javatpoint.com/Garbage-Collection). Then, we should focus on learning [Database](https://www.techonthenet.com/postgresql/index.php), [SQL](https://www.techonthenet.com/sql/index.php), and [WEB UI](https://www.w3schools.com/html/).

Afterward, the knowledge of a few build tools like [Gradle](https://www.baeldung.com/gradle), frameworks like [JUnit](https://www.baeldung.com/junit-5), helper tools like [GIT](https://www.atlassian.com/git/tutorials) & and [SDLC](https://www.tutorialspoint.com/sdlc/sdlc_overview.htm) methodologies like [Agile](https://www.atlassian.com/agile) will also be required.

![Foundation Phase](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/bs3pbrlhwg0fwu0bzxmg.png)

Here, I've put each step into a box to segregate them from others. Also, we don't have a particular order of the steps. 

*A trainee can self-decide his order, moving from more interesting/relevant topics to the less significant ones*.

Also, don't forget to follow a code review checklist and best practices for delivering better code.

{% link https://dev.to/smartyansh/code-review-checklist-for-java-beginners-181f %}

{% link https://dev.to/smartyansh/coding-best-practices-for-java-web-apps-59m2 %}

#4. Advanced Phase#

The Advanced Phase is the time to use the skills developed in the Foundation Phase. 

It's all about integrating the learning to create a Web Application, follow a few steps of the SDLC like code review and code check-in, and learn about frameworks like [Spring](https://spring.io/projects/spring-framework), [Hibernate](https://hibernate.org/), and [Grails](https://grails.org/) that add value in day-to-day programming activities.

![Advanced Phase](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/rnpcp404jwgxd38urc36.png)

#5. Extras#

Here, let's discuss a few other things that can give an extra edge to a Programmer in their day-to-day work:

* Data Structures
* Algorithms
* Design Patterns
* Data Formats - JSON/XML
* Functional Programming - Lambda Expressions, Java Streams
* Scripting - Groovy/Python

#6. Conclusion#
In this article, we discussed a training curriculum for Junior Programmers that aspire to be Java Full Stack Programmer and want to be productive quickly.

*First, we explored the Foundation Phase that helps to develop a few skills. Then, we examined the Advanced Phase that prepares a programmer to utilize each skill learned in the Foundation Phase to be productive.*

*Last, we discussed some bonus concepts that can give an extra edge to a programmer over others.*

Although, the curriculum is mainly targeting Java developers. However, we can replace Java with any technology like .Net, Python, and C++. 

**The idea is to learn the basics of a programming language with tools and methodologies that help a Full Stack Programmer be efficient, productive, and competent.**

Please let me know your thoughts on the points discussed.

Thanks for reading!