This is a rundown of amazing Java project ideas that will set off your career in programming. Given, there are dozens of projects that could help you learn or perfect some basic or complex Java tasks. But if you are a beginner who is rather skeptical about venturing out on your own, the projects in this mini-guide have been handpicked specifically for you.

They cover a broad range of interests in programming plus they are customizable to suit your preference. Most importantly, they are designed to fine-tune your programming skills and ensure that you are on course to becoming a master programmer in no time.

Don’t be scared, you will make it through with the right mindset and commitment. So let’s get started.

Why is it Important to Build Java Projects While Learning?

Anyone can become a good programmer, no matter if you have a particular gene code to do this or not. That said, putting in the hard work and having the right mindset is inevitable to achieve this. Building Java projects will help you sharpen your skills on real-life projects and boost your confidence as a programmer. That is the only way to know if you have a practical grasp of the theory you’ve studied. Working on these Java projects will give you the opportunity to prepare yourself for a job.

Employers are not only interested in the theoretical knowledge that you possess, they are also interested in how you can translate the knowledge in a practical set up. Can you really code? You should build a portfolio of your own projects. So when you’ll apply for a position of programmer, you will have code, apps, projects, solutions to show to recruiters.

Lastly, this will highlight your strong points and identify limitations that need improvement.

Java Programming Use Cases. What are They?

Java is a versatile programming language used in many areas of software and app development. Some of the most popular applications of Java include:

• Web apps. Java, a reliable, flexible, and high performing language, allows enterprises and large companies to establish web apps using JSPs and Servelets. Almost all big companies have Java apps on their servers. Other than that, when programmers want to add dynamic data to a website with static HTML web pages, they are willing to use Java as well.
• Software tools. Java is a popular language used to build both commercial and open-source projects by means of different IDEs, inc. IntelliJ IDEA, Eclipse, BlueJ, and NetBeans and many online IDE variations.
• Test automation. Among other languages and tools for test automation, Java is not the last one and is used to test enterprise projects and mobile applications.
• Android apps. The applications are developed using AndroidStudio by Google based on Intellij IDEa. Apps run on JVM, which means code itself runs the same way as on desktop computers. Apart from that, Kotlin, inspired by Java, is an object-oriented programming language that works over JVM and Android. By the way, it will be way simpler to start with Kotlin if you are familiar with Java principles.
• Games. Many modern games are written in Java, both for PC (Minecraft), and for mobile devices, like most Android games.
• Scientific Apps. Java demonstrates stability and safety, hence is popular in many scientific applications. It also provides a full set of concurrency tools.

So, the list of twenty Java projects for novice programmers is as follows. As promised, nothing complex, just simple everyday use of Java.

20 Java Projects to DIY

Games

1. Create Your Own version of classical videogame

As for beginning, you may start with writing games and enjoy coding out your unique version using Java. Depending on your skillset and time put on the project, the game might be either short or long, simple or complicated.

When my students ask what it is better to start with, I usually recommend beginning with CodeGym Games. CodeGym itself is a programming platform and a Java Core practical course and I’ve recently revealed CodeGym Games. It is a free cool feature that allows writing different kinds of your own games.

Writing a game with CodeGym will require you to perform twenty subtasks that make up every single game task. When you finish up with the last subtask, your game is ready and you can even share it with your peers by sending them a link to the published game.

The project uses CodeGym’s very simple game engine. The latter divides the field into cells. The minimum size is 3x3 while the maximum — 100x100. You can fill cells with certain colors and write some text in them.

Other than that, the engine allows you to write event handlers for mouse clicks and key presses, as well as working with a timer.

You can create such games as Mine Picker, Hungry Snake, 2048, etc. The moment you start writing your own solution the Web IDE will open. This is also the moment when you start working on your first subtask. You can get all subtasks using IntelliJ IDEA plugin.

2. Super Mario Bros Clone

Do you remember the famous Super Mario game by Nintendo? Good news — Android has developed its clone using Java and the LibGDX framework. It is an open-source project that developers consider a boilerplate for learning game programming and writing games. Working on the project will help you hone the skills in Game Loops, Sprites, Sprite Sheets, Texture Maps, Collision Detection, etc.

In the end, you will create a game that runs on various platforms, be it Android, iOS, or Windows.

3. Create Hungry Snake Game

Snake is another classic game — many of you have played it at least once in a life. CodeGym has developed its analogue and added to the Games section on the platform. So, you can hone your Java skills writing the game on your own. The essence of Hungry Snake is to feed the snake with tokens — the more, the better. Here you should also watch the snake so that it doesn’t touch the boundaries and bite itself.

Hungry Snake is as simple a game as possible, so you can write it on your own using Java. As far as it is accompanied with well-explained instructions, you will be able to handle a task with no hassle.

Instruction

4. Create a Phone Emulator

This is a simple Android game created using the popular Java game development framework, LibGDX. This tutorial will cover its basics and explain how to develop, design, and test a game. Following the tutorial, you will also be able to create a phone emulator on your own using software Android Studio and test it without having an Android phone.

Video is 15 minutes long, so you’ll probably finish the tutorial in 1–2 hours.

5. Create Flappy-Bird Game

The Flappy-Bird has an interesting backstory you can get familiar with by watching the video. When starting a game, you’ll get a red dot playing it instead of the bird. This is the only thing that makes it different from the same-name game application — background and pillars remain original.

Playing the game requires that you control a red dot and move it between the pillars. Every green post passed successfully gives you one point. In comparison with the other projects, Flappy-Bird provides for the use of multiple colors. It will also give you a better understanding of Java Swing and, again, OOP concepts. Consider this game if it interests you and watch a one-hour video to get a clear idea about the project.

6. Create Text-Based Adventure Game

In a nutshell, this is a console system adventure game. The video below completes a 10-part series called ‘Java for Beginners’. The previous nine parts are an intro to Java fundamentals.

7. Create Chess Game

Give Chess a try if you want to convert a classical board game to a Java DIY project and play with your friends. First, you need to build up a board and the pieces and then map out the movement of the pieces on the board. You also need to look at the game from the viewpoint of a programmer and create computer algorithms.

Management Systems

8. Create a School Management System

The idea is to create a comprehensive school management system that would just deal with students, faculty, and funds. It doesn’t cover the issues of attendance, bus tracking, schedules, etc. It is rather aimed for mentors to implement a money management system for a college. While creating a project, you will learn Collection methods in Java, as well as Object Oriented Programming concepts. The video length is about two hours, but you might need twice more time to reproduce the project on your own.

9. Create a Student Management System

You can also create a system for adding new students into an existing database, enrolling them in the existing courses, and generating unique student IDs. The project will also teach you how to create a system displaying the status of each student, including personal information, ID, fee balance, and courses which student is enrolled in.

Working with this project will involve using Object Oriented Programming concepts and will take about 3–4 hours to complete.

10. Create a Sports Management System

This will be an exciting project if you are a sports management lover. You will create an interface for managing sports-related activities, as well as scheduling sporting events for a school, college, or any other organization.

SM is a simple solution for sports management, including events, players, and prizes information. Administrator can see and edit the data. Users, in their turn, have access to players’ info and subscription to events. As soon as they get subscribed, they will be notified about sport events by email.

11. Create a Recipe Management System

This project involves creating a system for managing recipes which has admin and users. The users can submit and share recipes. The admin who has sole access to the database registers users and holds the rights to approve recipes.

After registering to the system, the users get to the category of veg or non-veg recipes, where they can add a food name, the ingredients, and then describe the whole cooking process. The recipe is uploaded to the system after admin approval.

12. Create an Inventory Management System

This system is of high demand among businesses searching for a working tool to control stocks, product sales, and purchase. It contains a bulk of different modules and features that allow any manipulations with the items within the database.

After signing up, users can administer everything related to inventory, such as categories, consumer and supplier details, records of item movement within the warehouse, and entries payments.

13. Create a Library Management System

This project will teach you how to design MS Access databases and allow creating a system to amp the efficiency of librarians. It will shift their work from manual to an integrated computerized system.

In the manual configuration, all data, inc. book inventory, titles, and genres, as well as students borrowing records, are noted with pen and paper, which is time-consuming and cumbersome. Library management project, in its turn, allows creating a system where all this information can be stored and retrieved electronically in a computerized database.

The software contains a variety of modules that manage the operation in libraries and allows both librarians and students to find books without a hassle. They only need to enter the name and author to access a list of books relevant to their search query.

Billing Systems

14. Create a Billing System

A billing system allows users to calculate bills automatically. For this, they need to input the item, price per unit, and the quantity, so the system can generate a bill. Billing systems are good to use in retail shops and hotels.

15. Create an Electricity Billing System

As soon as you get finished with a standard billing system, you can move to creating an electricity billing system to get more practice. A computerized system for billing electricity is designed to make it automated and hence efficient and less tedious. This Java project allows for the units of electricity consumed to be electronically calculated and charged per unit so that the final bill can be electronically generated.

The system’s unique features make it service-oriented, and new functions can be added with every requirements update:

• Calculations are precise and made in real-time
• Seamless data exchange between the electricity office and consumers
• Secure system is designed with numerous control in place
• Computerization avoids involving many employees to operate

Other Tools and Applications

16. Create a Currency Converter

This beginner-friendly Java project allows the programmer to develop a web-based GUI that performs calculations for currency exchange. It uses input in the form of one currency and produces an output in the form of a different currency which is the equivalent of the imputed one.

The project is easy to develop using Java Netbeans, Java Servlets, and other web dev features.

17. Create a Simple Banking Application

This project teaches you to code simple banking operations by getting the needed information from the user. Working on a banking application will teach you Scanner class, fundamentals of Strings, variables, loops, and other concepts. This beginner-friendly project will take you about an hour and a half to complete.

18. Create an Email Application

This project requires advanced Java skills and will give a clear understanding of Math.random to create email applications. As much as it is advanced, it is still beginner-friendly and will give you a chance to practice OOPs concepts, such as encapsulation. It involves configuring email features, such as mailbox capacity, and setting and changing passwords. You will also learn to set up an alternate email.

To figure out how to do that, watch the video that will take you 37 minutes.

19. Create an ATM Interface

This is another advanced console system Java project. It is implemented in five classes which cover account holder, account, bank transaction, bank, and ATM. It allows you to explore the distinctive features of an ATM once you input a user id and pin. Right after, you can get access to transaction history, as well as make deposits, withdrawals, and transfers.

20. Create an Airline Reservation System

The idea of a system is to allow users to make electronic reservations for airline tickets. It eases the process of viewing vacant seats, getting flight details, including arrival and departure times, and making online payments.

In the beginning, you can miss including the option of payment processing and booking cancellation.

Conclusion

This is a wrap up of our top 20 beginner-friendly Java project ideas aimed at helping any programmer chart a successful career path in programming. The projects are quite easy to DIY. They range from simple to advanced, from simple games to banking systems. If you can tackle at least five of these Java project ideas, you will be ready to move to more advanced Java projects.

Also published at https://medium.com/javarevisited/20-amazing-java-project-ideas-that-will-boost-your-programming-career-75c4276f6f5