Migrating from a .NET developer role to a Java developer role

Hello Everyone,

 I worked as a .NET full stack developer for almost 15 years, but recently I started working on Java technology so Migrating from a .NET developer role to a Java developer role involves both technical and mindset shifts.

 Here's a structured guide to help you make the transition smoothly

1. Understand the Core Differences

Both Java and C# are the same, but there are some core differences

Aspect	.NET	Java
Primary Language	C#	Java
Runtime	CLR (Common Language Runtime)	JVM (Java Virtual Machine)
Framework	.NET Framework / .NET Core	Spring, Jakarta EE, etc.
IDE	Visual Studio	IntelliJ IDEA, Eclipse, VS Code
Build Tools	MSBuild	Maven, Gradle

2. Learn Java Syntax and Ecosystem

Since C# and Java are syntactically similar, the learning curve is manageable.  I focused on:

• Java syntax and conventions
• Exception handling
• Collections framework
• Java 8+ features (Streams, Lambdas, Optional, etc.)
• Memory management and garbage collection

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🧰 3. Get Comfortable with Java Tools

I started working with the following tools

• IDE: IntelliJ IDEA 
• Build Tools: Maven or Gradle
• Dependency Management: Understand pom.xml (Maven) or build.gradle
• Testing: JUnit, Mockito

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🌐 4. Learn Java Frameworks

I started learning below frameworks

• Spring Boot: For building REST APIs and microservices
• Spring Data JPA: For database access
• Spring Security: For authentication and authorization

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🗃️ 5. Database and ORM

I know Entity Framework in .NET, so I learned:

• JPA (Java Persistence API)
• Hibernate (most popular JPA implementation)

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🧪 6. Practice with Projects

I build small projects like:

• A RESTful API with Spring Boot
• A CRUD application using Spring Data JPA
• A microservice with Spring Cloud

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📦 7. Understand Java Deployment

I had good knowledge of .NET Core Deployment so I learned

• WAR vs JAR files
• Running Java apps with java -jar
• Dockerizing Java applications

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📈 8. Explore Advanced Topics (Optional)

• Reactive programming with Spring WebFlux
• Kafka or RabbitMQ for messaging
• Kubernetes for deployment
• 
  

It took me almost 2 months to learn Java from .NET, but it was a good experience.

Don’t forget to leave your feedback and comments below!

Regards

Sujeet Bhujbal

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