Top 7 Object Oriented Programming and Design Courses for Java Programmers in 2024 - Best of Lot

There is no doubt that Object-oriented programming is a pillar of software development and one of the reasons for the massive success of Java. Good knowledge of Object-oriented programming helps you to create better software. It also allows you to communicate your ideas better with your team members and fellow programmers. Despite being such an important technology, it's difficult to find programmers who understand OOP well. Many programmers just think that OOP is nothing more than Abstraction, Inheritance, Encapsulation, and Polymorphism, without genuinely understanding these concepts and mastering them.

They are undoubtedly the four pillars of Object-oriented programming, but OOP is much more than that. OOP is about thinking in terms of class and object, organizing your code following best practices like using SOLID design principles and design patterns to write code, which is easier to maintain and enhance.

It eventually helps you to write better software, which is easier to change and support, and that's why programmers and software developers need to understand OOP well.

In the past, I have shared a couple of books and free courses to learn object-oriented programming, which many of you liked a lot, but general feedback was about sharing more thorough and complete courses to learn both basic and advanced OOP concepts. I have taken your feedback, and this post is a result of that.

This article will share the seven best online courses that can help you learn Object-oriented programming and design from scratch. I have also included both beginner and advanced courses in catering to Java programmers of different experience levels.

7 Best Object-Oriented Programming Courses for Java developers in 2024

Here is my list of some of the best object-oriented and design courses for Java programmers without further ado. The list includes courses for both beginners and Java programmers with a couple of years of experience. Whether you know Java and OOP or not, you will learn a thing or two by joining these courses.

1. Master Object-Oriented Design in Java

It's easy to learn Java, but it's equally difficult to write production-quality object-oriented code, and that's where this course will help you.

Most of the object-oriented courses you will find on the internet will just explain OOP basics like Abstraction, Encapsulation, etc., but don't detail how to apply them in the real world.

What problem Abstraction solves? Why it's important? What happens if you don't use the right level of Abstraction or how do you develop the skill to see things at the different levels of Abstraction etc.

This course attempts to bridge that gap by explaining all the essential tools and concepts of Object-oriented programming a professional Java developer should know.

You will start with OOP basics like any other Java course, but slowly you will learn to design and develop software using best practices in Object-oriented programming.

You will learn about SOLID principles and see examples of using them to write better code. You will also learn about several object-oriented design patterns like Template, Factory, Strategy, Observer, Builder patterns, etc.

The course also covers advanced concepts like dependency injection, UML and shows you how to use them in real projects. Overall, an excellent course to learn Object-Oriented programming and design, and I highly recommend this to both junior and intermediate Java developers with a couple of years of experience.

2. Object Oriented Programming in Java Specialization by Duke University

The "Object Oriented Programming in Java Specialization" offered by the University of California San Diego through Coursera is a comprehensive program designed to elevate the skills of aspiring software developers. 

Led by renowned instructors including Leo Porter, Andrew D. Hilton, Robert Duvall, Christine Alvarado, Mia Minnes, Susan H. Rodger, and Owen Astrachan, this specialization encompasses four project-based courses, providing a deep dive into object-oriented design. 

With a 4.6 rating from 3,825 reviews, the beginner-level courses cover Java programming, arrays, lists, and structured data, along with data structures and performance. Learners gain valuable skills in software engineering, data structures, computer programming, data analysis, and more. 

The applied learning project involves the development of four Java applications, demonstrating proficiency in Java and object-oriented programming design. 

With the flexibility to learn at your own pace over six months at 10 hours a week, this specialization offers a shareable certificate and the opportunity to earn a career certificate from the University of California San Diego, enhancing your expertise in the field

By the way, if you find Coursera courses useful, which they are because they are created by reputed companies and universities around the world, I suggest you join the Coursera Plus, a subscription plan from Coursera which gives you unlimited access to their renowned courses, specialization, professional certificate, and guided projects. It cost around $399/year but its complete worth of your money as you get unlimited certificates.

3. Grokking the Object-Oriented Design Interview on DesignGuru

If you are looking for a course to take your object oriented design skill to next level then you will love this text-based, interactive OOP design course from DesignGuru.io, a new online learning platform for programmers. This course is designed to improve your Object oriented design skill so that you can solve OOP Design problem on coding interviews. 

Object Oriented Programming and Design are key part of software development as it makes it possible to design large and complex real world system into programming world. A clever and creative use of object oriented design can greatly reduce the complexity and makes it possible to create a system which can work in real world. 

The main problem with Object Oriented design is that it requires a lot of practice before you can think in terms of class and objects and make use of OOP fundamentals like Abstraction and Polymorphism and design principles like SOLID. 

This course tries to fill this gap by showing you several case studies where OOP design helped to create better system or solved a real world problem. 

The best thing about this course is that it is designed by the hiring managers of Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and Amazon, which means you will be learning from experts of FAANG companies. 

I highly recommend this course to anyone who wants to improve their OOP design skill.  The course also teaches you UML, which is a great tool for OOP design. 

Here is the link to join this course - Grokking the Object-Oriented Design Interview

Another great thing about this OOP Design course is that It not only provides a carefully handpicked case studies, which have been repeatedly asked at the top tech companies but also provides a thorough experience and guidance to handle different object-oriented design scenarios. 

It also helps that code examples in Java and Python, two of the most popular object oriented programming language. 

And, if you like these Grokking interview courses from DesignGuru, you can get all of them for a big discount by purchasing their All course bundle. This bundle include their most popular Grokking courses like Grokking System Design Interview, OOP Design, Coding Patterns, as well Grokking Dynamic programming interview.  You can also use code GURU to get 30% discount. 

4. Absolute Introduction to Object-Oriented Programming in Java

This is another course from the same author as the previous course. This course is actually a beginner level, and it's better to take this before joining the previous course if you don't have any prior background on OOP.

This course is slow-paced, simple, and perfect for beginners who want to understand classes and objects and how they help you write a more organized code.

You will learn about when an object is created, how it behaves with properties and methods, and what happens when running a Java program.

By the end of this course, you will understand the difference between a class and an object and important OOP techniques such as inheritance and polymorphism.

Overall a good course for beginners who wants to understand object-oriented programming.

5. Java - Object-Oriented Programming [For Absolute Beginners]

This is another course that focuses more on Java but covers Object-oriented programming well. You can divide the course into 2 parts; the first is chapter 1, solely focused on OOP. 

 And, the second part is all other chapters that focus on different features of Java, like Threads, IO, Streams, Java Garbage collection, and Exception handling.

In the first part, you will learn about OOP basics like class and objects, constructors, overloading and overriding methods, Data Abstraction, Encapsulation, Inheritance, etc.

The good part is that it explains each concept with a demo, making it easy to digest and remember. The course also focuses on static variables, which OOP didn't recommend, and abstract class and interface.

6. Object Oriented Programming - Basics to Advance (Java OOP)

Most of the courses you will find with Object-oriented programming in Java focus more on Java and less on OOP, but this course is different. It's a true Object-oriented programming course that concentrates just on OOP and tends to use Java, for example.

You will learn about the basics of Object-Oriented Programming, like the difference between OOP vs. Procedural languages like Java vs. C and things like Abstraction, Encapsulation, Inheritance, Polymorphism, Composition, etc. Aggregation.

You will also learn about the Abstract class interface and how objects are created using OOP. The course now focuses on how Java supports OOP like getters and setters, access modifiers, use of interface, composition, overloading, static members, etc.

At last, the course also introduces some of the design patterns in Java and explains how they help you write better OOP code in Java.  In short, a good, short course to learn Object-oriented programming and design in Java. Good for both software engineers and working Java professionals.

7. Learn Object-Oriented Programming with Java in 250 Steps [Udemy]

This is an excellent and up-to-date course to learn Object-oriented programming in Java.

The course teaches you Object-oriented programming using Java 9 like it uses the latest and greatest tools like JShell, Eclipse IDE, and others. You will learn about the basics of programming like loops, conditionals, functions, etc.

The course also explains the basics of the object-oriented program, like an abstract class, interface, constructors, overriding, overload, bandwidth, four pillars of OOP like Abstraction, Encapsulation, Polymorphism, and Inheritance.

The best part of the course is that it's very hands-on and you will learn by doing, which is the best way to learn new technology.

Another great thing about the course is that it's currently FREE, but I am not sure how long it will remain free; I am sure it will be turned into a paid course, but you can grab it while it's FREE.


That's all about some of the best courses to learn Object-Oriented Programming and Design in Java. These courses are great for anyone starting with both Java and Object-oriented programming first time. It only teaches you OOP basics like Abstraction, Encapsulation, Inheritance, and Polymorphism and also shows you how to design a program using OOP. 

You will also get to learn about essential Object-oriented design principles such as Coding for Interface and SOLID principles for creating better Java applications.

By the way, if you like reading books then Head First Object Oriented Analysis and Design by Brett D. McLaughlin, Gary Pollice, and  Dave West (Author) on O'reilly Media is an excellent resource, I have learned most of by OOP design skill from this book like when to use Inheritance vs Composition, how to use Polymorphism to write flexible code and how to use OOP to design large system all from this book. 


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Thanks for reading this article so far. If you find these best OOP Analysis and Design online courses useful, please share them with your friends and colleagues. If you have any questions or feedback, then please drop a note.

P. S. - If you are keen to learn Object-oriented programming but looking for free online courses to learn Object-oriented programming concepts then you can also check out this list of free OOP courses for beginners. This contains free OOP courses from Udemy, Coursera, and other online portals for beginners.