What Is a Java Certification? How To Get One

Oracle offers six different Java certification paths for professionals. Earning a Java certification can help develop and demonstrate your skills to potential employers, boost your programming abilities, qualify for a higher-paying job, and make your resume stand out. Read on if you’re interested in learning about different certifications. 

Read more: What Is Java Used For?

How to get a Java certification

To get a Java certification, you must first decide which certification path to follow and the material to pass the exam. You can learn more about Java with many different online courses, such as the Java Programming and Software Engineering Fundamentals Specialization offered by Duke University on Coursera. Oracle also offers preparatory courses to correspond to each Java certification exam. Once you’re confident in the material, it’s time to register and take the exam. After passing the test, you’ll earn your Java certification. 

6 popular Java certification paths

Oracle offers six different Java certification paths, two at the associate level and four at the professional level. The associate level is a beginner-level certificate that’s catered to secondary education students and computer science educators, it includes the following: 

• Oracle Certified Associate, Java SE 8 Programmer

• Java Certified Foundations Associate

To obtain a professional-level certification, you must first complete the corresponding associate-level certification, if applicable. The professional-level certifications for Java professionals with more experience include: 

• Oracle Certified Professional, Java EE 7 Application Developer

• Oracle Certified Professional, Java SE 8 Programmer

• Oracle Certified Professional: Java SE 11 Developer

• Oracle Certified Professional: Java SE 17 Developer

Let’s explore each certification in more detail.

1. Oracle Certified Professional, Java EE 7 Application Developer

Requirements: Recommended prior experience with programming and Java SE

Cost (US): $245 [1]

Exam format: 70 questions, multiple-choice, 120 minutes

Exam topics: Java EE architecture, business logic using EJBs, Java Message Service API, SOAP services, REST services, WebSockets, CDI Beans, concurrency API, and Batch API

As an Oracle Certified Professional (OCP) in Java Enterprise Edition 7, it demonstrates your ability to develop and deploy programs using Java EE 7 to future employers. You’ll need prior experience using Java Standard Edition to qualify for this certification. 

2. Oracle Certified Associate, Java SE 8 Programmer

Requirements: Intermediate experience with Java SE 8

Cost (US): $245 [1]

Exam format: 56 multiple-choice questions, 120 minutes

Exam topics: Java basics, working with Java data types, operators, decision constructs, arrays, loops, handling exceptions, Java API

The Oracle Certified Associate Java Standard Edition 8 Programmer credential demonstrates your foundational Java skills. To succeed at this certification level, you should have an intermediate knowledge of Java SE 8 along with programming experience. Earning this credential is a prerequisite to attaining Java SE 8 credentials at a professional level. 

3. Oracle Certified Professional, Java SE 8 Programmer

Requirements: Oracle Certified Associate, Java SE 8 Programmer

Cost (US): $245 [1]

Exam format: 68 multiple-choice questions, 120 minutes

Exam topics: Java classes, advanced Java classes, generics and collections, Lambda built-in Functional Interfaces, Java I/O fundamentals, concurrency, localization

After completing the associate level certification, you can move on to earn a Oracle Certified Professional in Java SE 8 Programmer certification. The professional level demonstrates a more advanced background in Java SE 8 and a proven ability to use Java SE 8 in real-world applications. You can take a more advanced course in Java or gain hands-on experience to prepare yourself for a higher level of certification. 

4. Java Certified Foundations Associate

Requirements: Basic knowledge of Java 

Cost (US): $95 [1]

Exam format: 60 multiple-choice questions, 120 minutes

Exam topics: Real-world applications of Java, elements of Java, data types, operators, strings, classes, decision statements, looping statements, arrays, debugging

The Java Certified Foundations Associate requires you to understand Java concepts and have practical, hands-on skills with Java. Oracle designed this course for students studying Java or ready to begin careers using Java. 

5. Oracle Certified Professional: Java SE 11 Developer

Requirements: Advanced knowledge of Java 

Cost (US): $245 [1]

Exam format: 50 multiple-choice questions, 90 minutes

Exam topics: Object-oriented approach, data types, exception handling, arrays, collections, streams, Lambda expressions, modular applications, secure coding, localizations

Earning an Oracle Certified Professional Java SE 11 Developer certification demonstrates your professional-level knowledge and skills working with Java SE 11, specifically the changes from version 8. If you currently hold an OCP in Java SE 8, you can take this Java certification to upgrade your skill set to a new version of Java. 

6. Oracle Certified Professional: Java SE 17 Developer

Requirements: Advanced knowledge of Java SE 17

Cost (US): $245 [1]

Exam format: 50 multiple-choice questions, 90 minutes

Exam topics: Controlling program flow such as if/else and switch statements; Java object-oriented approach; handling exceptions; working with arrays, collections, streams, and collections; Java Platform Module system

As an Oracle Certified Professional in Java SE 17, you demonstrate your advanced skills with Java Standard Edition 17. Java SE 17 is a recent edition of Java that Oracle offers as a certified credential, although it released Java SE 20 in March 2023 and Java SE 21 in September 2023. If you currently hold a certification in Java SE 11 or Java SE 8, upgrading to the Java SE 17 certification can help show potential employers that you’re staying current on the newest Java technology. 

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Java certification salary and job outlook 

According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the projected job growth for software developers, quality assurance analysts, and testers is 25 percent from 2022 to 2032 [2]. Although it doesn’t offer insight into Java software developers, Statista reports that Java was the seventh most popular programming language in 2023 [3]. While Java certification may boost your earning power, it also helps you qualify for more advanced or senior programming roles. 

Java certification careers

Java is relevant for several careers in computer technology and software development. Three examples of positions you can pursue with a Java certification include Java software developer, Android developer, and full-stack developer. 

*All salary data is sourced from Glassdoor as of November 2023.

Java software developer

Average base US salary: $105,072 [4]

Job outlook (projected growth from 2022 to 2032): 25 percent [2]

Typical education requirements: Bachelor’s degree in an IT-related field to work as a Java software developer. 

As a Java software developer, you’ll work with a team to design, create, test, and repair software using the programming language. Depending on the size of your team, you may have a specialized role or a broad one. Some typical tasks for Java software developers include testing and debugging code, developing technical designs, and monitoring security. 

Android developer

Average base US salary: $88,835 [5]

Job outlook (projected growth from 2022 to 2032): 25 percent [2]

Typical education requirements: A bachelor’s in an IT-related field to work as an Android developer. 

As an Android developer, you’ll do a lot of similar tasks to a software developer. The major difference is that you’ll design and create software to run on Android devices that will be available in the Google Play Store. While the official Android app programming language has been Kotlin since 2019, Java was the official language prior to that and remains relevant for developing Android apps today.  

Full stack developer

Average base US salary: $90,897 [6]

Job outlook (projected growth from 2022 to 2032): 25 percent [2]

Typical education requirements: An IT-related four-year degree to work as a full-stack developer. 

As a full-stack developer, you’ll help develop software as a versatile professional who can work on both back-end and front-end tasks. Java is one beneficial language for full-stack developers, as well as languages such as Python, JavaScript, HTML, CSS, and SQL. In this role, you will likely complete a variety of tasks, such as front-end design, database management, and testing. 

Learn more with Coursera

If you’re ready to take the next step and prepare for your Java certification, consider learning new skills and preparing for your exam with a course on Coursera. You could earn your Object Oriented Programming in Java Specialization, offered in partnership with Duke University and UC San Diego. This program is designed for aspiring software developers with some programming experience, and it covers how to use Java to solve complex problems.