Top 6 Functional Programming Courses for Java Developers in 2024
My favorite online Java courses from Udemy, Coursera, Pluralsight, and Educative to learn Functional Programming using Lambdas and Stream in Java.
Hello guys, if you want to learn Functional programming in Java in 2024 and looking for the best resources like online courses and books then you have come to the right place. Earlier, I have shared the best Java online courses, Books, best places to learn Java, and best Java concurrency courses and in this article, I will share the best Java functional programming courses to join in 2024.
If you remember, Java 8 changed the way we usually code in Java by introducing some Functional Programming concepts. It brings features like lambda expressions and Streams, which give birth to new patterns that result in clean code in Java.
Remember the days before lambdas? Java developers had to use anonymous boilerplate classes with lambdas which can quickly become tedious and hard to maintain.
Now there is a better and more declarative way to write Java. If you use them correctly, then they can express the intent of the code better and thus makes it easier to read and maintain.
There is another bit which many people miss is the introduction of Functional programming concepts like the map, reduce, flatmap, and filter, which enable us to write more readable and performant code in Java.
If you don’t know functional programming or want to learn functional programming in Java and looking for the best resources like online training courses then you have come to the right place.
In this article, I’ll share some excellent courses to learn functional programming in Java. These courses will help you to master Functional Programming and write unique Java code using Streams, Lambda Expressions, Functional Interfaces, and method references.
You will also learn and understand things like map, reduce, flatmap, filter, and other functional programming patterns, why they were added in Stream API and how to use them properly to write high-performance Java applications.
These courses are for experienced Java developers, someone how to knows how to write a Java program, and worked on Java for some time.
If you are a complete beginner in the Java world, then it’s better to start with something more fundamental like The Complete Java Masterclass, which covers everything a Java developer needs to know, including some functional programming basics.
6 Best Java Functional Programming Online Courses for Beginners to Learn in 2024
Functional Programming was introduced into Java in Java 8. Additional Functional Programming Enhancements were added in Java 9, and this list provides courses that cover all those functional programming features. Without wasting any more of your time, here are the best courses to learn functional programming in Java:
1. Learn Java Functional Programming with Lambdas & Streams
This is probably the best Udemy course to start with Functional Programming in Java. In this hands-on course, we will learn to write some excellent Java code with Functional Programming.
Created by Ranga Rao, a fellow Java developer, and Udemy best seller instructor, this is the best course to learn Functional Programming for beginners.
You will not only learn the basics of Java Functional Programming and things like Lambda Expressions, Method References, Streams, and Functional Interfaces but also practice these concepts by solving puzzles, exercises, and writing programs.
This course also uses Eclipse (Java IDE), and if you are new to Java then don’t worry; you will learn how to set it up as well.
If you are new to Functional Programming, then it’s the best course to start with. Talking about social proof, more than 16K students have already enrolled in this course.
Here is the link to join this course — Learn Java Functional Programming with Lambdas & Streams
2. From Collections to Streams in Java 8 Using Lambda Expressions by Jose Paumard [Pluralsight]
This is another beautiful course to learn functional programming in Java. This course will show you the new patterns introduced in Java 8, which uses lambda expressions, the functional interfaces, the Collection Framework, and the Stream API for producing cleaner Java code.
This course mainly focuses on o lambda expressions, one of the most important concepts introduced in Java 8. Lambdas are a nice thing but would be useless without new patterns to process data.
You will learn about things like map, flatMap, reduce, and filter, which will help you to work better and efficiently with bulk data in Java and create better patterns and code.
Here is the link to join this course — From Collections to Streams in Java 8 Using Lambda Expressions
3. Implementing Design Patterns Using Java 8 Lambda By Jose Paumard
If you have been writing code using Modern Java syntax, then you may have wondered how to implement classical design patterns like Strategy and State using modern Java features like Lambdas and Stream.
This course will teach you how to implement those design patterns using modern Java features. It will help you to write fluent and straightforward code, which is easier to read and maintain.
If you don’t know Jose, the instructor of this course is a Java Champion and regarded as a Java expert. This course, along with the other two I have included in this list, gives you a fantastic opportunity to learn from the expert himself.
Here is the link to join this course — Implementing Design Patterns Using Java 8 Lambda
By the way, you would need a Pluralsight membership to join this course which costs around $29 per month or $299 per year (14% discount). I highly recommend this subscription to all programmers as it provides instant access to more than 7000+ online courses to learn any tech skill. Alternatively, you can also use their 10-day-free-pass to watch this course for FREE.
4. Java 8 for Experienced Developers: Lambdas, Stream API & Beyond
This is another advanced course on Functional Programming and Java 8 from Educative, text-based interactive coding websites where you can run code on a browser.
This course will teach you advanced patterns to process bulk data in Java 8 using lambdas, streams, and functional programming.
You will learn things like how to use lambda expression and stream API to write better code but also several other Java 8 enchantments that are made on Collections and Concurrency API. You will also learn how to inter-operate between new Stream and old Collection classes like ArrayList, Iterator, and others.
You will also learn about Optional, a new concept introduced in Java 8 to handle the reduction of empty streams and often regarded as saviors from Nulls as well new concurrency enhancements like CompletableFuture and StampedLock.
Overall an excellent course to learn new patterns for processing data in Java 8 using Stream, Optional, and Collectors.
Here is the link to join this course — Java 8 for Experienced Developers: Lambdas, Stream API & Beyond
And, if you find the Educative platform and their interactive courses useful then you can also get an Educative Subscription that provides access to not just this course but their 210+ courses in just $14.9 per month. It’s very cost-effective and great for preparing for coding interviews
5. Java Streams API Developer Guide
This is another hands-on course to learn and master Stream class and their class from Java .util. Stream package. Instructor Nelson Djalo has done an excellent job in explaining confusing Functional programming concepts and methods like map, reduce, filter, and flatmap with some live coding examples.
He will first show you the code and then explains the code. At the same time, he will also show you how you can change the code to change the behavior, which helps you to learn those Stream methods better.
Along the way, you will also learn some useful keyboard shortcuts and productivity tips to work with IntelliJIDEA, the most popular IDE for Java development.
Here is the link to join this course — Java Streams API Developer Guide
6. Functional & Reactive programming in Java: Modern Style
This is another fantastic course from Udemy to learn about Functional and Reactive Programming in Java. It covers things like Lambda, Streams, Collectors, Collections, Optionals & RxJava
Created by Basics Strong, this course is great for anyone who wants to learn Functional programming.
Here are things you will learn in this course:
- Basics of Functional Programming in Java
- Reactive Programming In Java
- Streams and Parallel Streams how they work under the Hood
- Collectors and How Collectors Works under the Hood
- RxJava 3.0
- Functional Data Structures
- Collections in Functional Way
- Advanced Concepts of Java Like Optional and Much More
Overall a very detailed course on the subject of Functional Programming & Reactive with a lot of programming practice. It has covered all the prospective like Functional Data Structures, Functional Design Patterns, Collections in Functional Programming.
Here is the link to join this course — Functional & Reactive programming in Java: Modern Style
That’s all about the best online courses to learn Functional Programming in Java. These online courses will provide an excellent introduction to fundamental functional programming concepts like immutability and transformation like the map, flatmap, reduce, and others.
Even if you are not looking for functional programming, you will learn a lot of useful tips and tricks to write better Java code. Thanks to Java 8, code is more concise, readable, and faster.
No matter where you are in your career, there’s always room to improve or find a new niche that better suits your goals. For Java developers who want to take their productivity (and career growth) up a notch, I highly suggest doubling down on Java 8 as it’s the most widely used in professional development.
Java 8 introduced lots of new features and APIs that have changed the way code is written. In short, working with Java 8 will make you a more well-rounded developer, and it will open lots of opportunities for you.
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Thanks for reading this article so far. If you like these best Java Functional programming courses, then please share them with your friends and colleagues. If you have any questions or feedback, then please drop a note.
P. S. — If you are new to the Java Programming world and looking for some free courses to start your Java programming journey, then you can also check out this list of my favorite free Java courses for beginners. It contains some of the best free Java courses from Udemy, Coursera, Pluralsight, and Educative for beginners.
