What does "Strong knowledge in Java" mean to you? Let' say you were hiring a programmer who specializes in Java. What strong knowledge in Java would you or anyone in the software industry look for?

So I've been programming in Java for 2 years. I taught myself one month of 2d java game programming. It was tough work but I'm happy with the results and skills I have obtained so far.

This is my only game portfolio so far. The art was not designed by me. I was more focus on the programming aspect as that is what I like the most about programming games. I did 40% of the code: collision detection, implementing sound and setting up user interface

I would rather see the post to see what else they are considering to understand what "strong knowledge" meant.


Without anything more to go on, I'd expect it to mean that you have used the language PROFESSIONALLY for several years --- not just using it for academic projects. I would expect it to mean that you are able to debug your way out of any problem you are capable of creating. I would expect it to mean you know how to optimize your code properly. I expect it includes proper understanding of stack and heap based objects so you don't waste time in garbage collection, or even worse fill your heap with uncollected garbage after the first GC generation. I would expect that you are knowledgeable about every keyword and the major design patterns used in the language, but not necessarily a full language lawyer.

Look at the rest of the job requirements. That should clue you in on what "strong knowledge" means to that specific employer.

I would rather see the post to see what else they are considering to understand what "strong knowledge" meant.


Without anything more to go on, I'd expect it to mean that you have used the language PROFESSIONALLY for several years --- not just using it for academic projects. I would expect it to mean that you are able to debug your way out of any problem you are capable of creating. I would expect it to mean you know how to optimize your code properly. I expect it includes proper understanding of stack and heap based objects so you don't waste time in garbage collection, or even worse fill your heap with uncollected garbage after the first GC generation. I would expect that you are knowledgeable about every keyword and the major design patterns used in the language, but not necessarily a full language lawyer.

Look at the rest of the job requirements. That should clue you in on what "strong knowledge" means to that specific employer.

good point. thanks for the reply.

If I had an interview candidate that said on their CV they were a strong Java programmer I would expect they have experience of managing a large multi user database as a web back ends and experience with Corba, SOAP, SQL, JSON, XML, REST etc.. Also some knowledge of web scripting in something like PHP. Socket Programming.

Debugging, optomization, stack / heap allocation, garbage collection isn't Java specific and I would expect a fairly novice prrogrammer to understand this.

If I had an interview candidate that said on their CV they were a strong Java programmer I would expect they have experience of managing a large multi user database as a web back ends and experience with Corba, SOAP, SQL, JSON, XML, REST etc.. Also some knowledge of web scripting in something like PHP. Socket Programming.

Debugging, optomization, stack / heap allocation, garbage collection isn't Java specific and I would expect a fairly novice prrogrammer to understand this.

Java network experience. Another great point. Thanks for the reply.