Welcome to the Java Backend repository hub for Hack Your Future Belgium.
This repository acts as a central index for the weekly Java learning repositories.
It brings together the full journey from Java fundamentals and object-oriented programming to databases, Spring Boot, validation, and security.
Throughout this track, students gradually move from:
- Java syntax and programming basics
- Methods, arrays, and object-oriented programming
- Exception handling, collections, and file I/O
- Streams, testing, SQL, and multithreading
- Spring and Spring Boot fundamentals
- JPA, DTOs, MapStruct, validation, and error handling
- Security concepts: Spring Security, JWT authentication, and refresh tokens
- Capstone project: full layered backend with AOP, security, and token management
| Week | Main Focus | Repository |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Java setup, syntax, variables, data types, operators, control flow, loops, and console input/output | java-week-1 |
| 2 | Methods, parameters, return values, arrays, multidimensional arrays, and introduction to classes and objects | java-week-2 |
| 3 | OOP deep dive: encapsulation, inheritance, polymorphism, interfaces, constructors, and class design | java-week-3 |
| 4 | Exceptions, interfaces, iterators, collections, and writing cleaner, more maintainable Java programs | java-week-4 |
| 5 | Generics, file input/output, Java Date-Time API, and collaborative live coding practice | java-week-5 |
| 6 | File I/O, streams, lambda expressions, testing fundamentals, serialization, and multithreading | java-week-6 |
| 7 | Applied Java practice with projects, resources, and intermediate backend-oriented exercises | java-week-7 |
| 8 | Structured Java practice, SQL basics and test-oriented exercises, including JUnit-based examples | java-week-8 |
| 9 | Databases in practice: PostgreSQL, JDBC, CRUD operations, and transaction concepts | java-week-9 |
| 10 | Maven, external libraries, multithreading, testing practice, and mini-project work | java-week-10 |
| 11 | Spring Framework overview, IoC and dependency injection, Spring Boot introduction, REST endpoint design, and Hibernate intermediate topics (relationships, lifecycle callbacks) | java-week-11 |
| 12 | Spring Data JPA, DTOs, MapStruct, Lombok, ResponseEntity, HTTP status codes, exception handling, request parameters, and input validation | java-week-12 |
| 13 | Cross-cutting concerns, AOP, Spring Security introduction, password hashing with BCrypt, global exception handling, configuration, and application profiles | java-week-13 |
| 14 | JWT authentication, user registration and login flows, securing endpoints, CSRF protection, pagination, sorting, and refresh tokens | java-week-14 |
| 15 | Capstone movie project: full Spring Boot application built step by step with MapStruct, AOP aspects, Spring Security, JWT filters, and refresh tokens | java-week-15 |
By the end of this track, students will be able to:
- Write clean and structured Java code
- Apply object-oriented programming principles effectively
- Work with files, collections, streams, and concurrency
- Use relational databases with SQL and JDBC
- Build REST APIs with Spring Boot
- Apply DTOs, MapStruct, validation, and exception handling in backend applications
- Implement Spring Security with JWT authentication and refresh token support
- Apply AOP for cross-cutting concerns such as logging and security
- Some repositories may be added or updated over time.
- The exact weekly distribution may evolve as the curriculum grows.
- This repository is intended as a navigation hub for the Java backend track.