System.out.println("Coding in Java!");

Dive: Coder - Java
Description: Knows how to code using Java
Level: Level 1
Level Requirements: Can code in Java at a basic level
Certified On: Jun 7, 2026

Editor’s Note: On all dive certifications, we try to edit the writing as little as possible to preserve authenticity, personality, and writing style. We typically fix spelling errors, but minimally modify grammar and sentence structure (just enough to ensure readability).

Name: Rishi Dhar Break Diving Level: Recruit Number of Certified Dives: 1 From: United States In: United States

1. When and Why Did You Decide to Pursue This Dive At This Level? What was your inspiration and motivation?

In my freshman year of college I decided to take elective classes to learn to code. I've always had interest in coding and found the appropriate opportunity through an introductory level course. The course was taught in Java, so that's how I stumbled upon it.

2. How Long Did It Take For You To Accomplish This Dive At This Level From The Day You Decided To Pursue It, And Why Did It Take That Long?

I learned to code Java at a basic level after completing two college courses in Java one after the other: Introduction to Computer Science and Data Structures. This took two semesters or about 6 months of actual learning. However, the evidence attached to this dive was written about nine years later when I successfully solved several LeetCode challenges.

3. What Was The Hardest Part About Achieving This Particular Dive Level?

The major difficulty, especially in the Data Structures course, was the increased complexity, length, and frequency of assignments that needed to be understood, absorbed, and completed while balancing the core engineering courses required for my actual major; these computer science courses were taken as an elective, completely different from my major in Materials Science and Engineering.

4. What Was The Easiest Part About Achieving This Particular Dive Level?

As ample programming study material, lectures, and assignments were provided in a structured format by university faculty, sessions with teaching assistants were abundant, and the class sizes were large, it was easy and straight-forward to navigate the different computer science topics presented before us. There were more than enough peers, mentors, and resources already put in place for us to ensure a certain level of success.

5. What Is Your Advice For Someone Who Is Pursuing This Dive And Level?

If you have a passion for learning to code, you will have no problem learning Java at a basic level. Especially with the advent of AI assistants, it is highly recommended to take up a small but fun project as soon as basic syntax and concepts are understood. This makes the learning process much more enjoyable and easy to digest. A small project such as creating a calculator, tic-tac-toe, a to-do list, or a count-down timer pushes you to go beyond a potentially inspiration-killing, tedious online tutorial and learn new capabilities of programming languages quickly.

6. What Are Some Of The Best Resources You Recommend to Those Pursuing This Dive At This Level, And Why Do You Recommend Them? Please Include Relevant Weblinks, If Applicable.

There are many free online resources to learn to code in 2025 from Youtube video playlists to free online courses to Oracle's own documentation.
Code Academy's Learn Java course is recommended as a prerequisite by NJIT's graduate degree certificate (which is, in turn, a prerequisite to their MS in CS). That is a better stamp of approval than any I can give. I have used the course myself and found it to be of good quality. You are not required to read everything and can skip ahead by demonstrating skill through coding.
LeetCode is not required at this level, but can be a fun way to challenge yourself if you're new to coding and a little daunted by starting your own project. There are plenty of challenges at the beginner level that get the gears in your brain turning and certainly boost your confidence as a coder! You can view many solutions for each challenge posted by other users in many programming languages to suit your preferences. Additionally, as you solve more challenges, your profile becomes more impressive and can be shared with technical recruiters, who often use the site themselves to find and test candidates. There is also the 'Explore' tab which contains a lot of helpful learning modules; I have used one of them myself.

Resource 1: Code Academy - A free course without any prerequisites, provides project-based learning (with AI help!), and a certificate upon completion.

Resource 2: LeetCode - A platform for solving coding challenges and sharing solutions, challenges which often can be found in technical interviews.

Resource 3: -

Resource 4: -

Resource 5: -

7. Tell Us A Story Of One Of Your Adventures While Pursuing This Dive (At This Level).

Though I became proficient in Java in college, I did not continue coding much until this year when I decided I want to pursue software development. I got the opportunity to take several technical interviews and coding challenges from hiring companies and found that my abilities became quite rusty and slow and required some brushing up! That's how I came to LeetCode and other similar platforms to practice my coding skills and get faster at solving coding challenges. With the help of LeetCode I was later able to pass a technical coding challenge provided by a recruiting company.

8. What Evidence Did You Submit to Prove You Met the Requirements for This Dive and Level?

The evidence for submission at the beginner level is completed coding challenges on LeetCode. Please see links below:

https://leetcode.com/problems/two-sum/solutions/7211843/double-for-loop-by-rishi_dhar-itrk/
The above solution demonstrates understanding of nested loops to search for a particular combination of elements in an array.

https://leetcode.com/problems/palindrome-number/solutions/7211858/using-an-arraylist-by-rishi_dhar-m6mn/
The above solution demonstrates implementation of Java's ArrayList, whose size can be increased or decreased as needed.

https://leetcode.com/problems/design-hashset/solutions/7211895/using-linked-lists-by-rishi_dhar-jgjx/
The above solution designs a HashSet class without using Java's built-in hash table libraries. It implements an array of linked-lists. Functionality is created for the contains(), add(), and remove() methods. This assignment demonstrates understanding of a hash function and hash table.

9. Will You Be Pursuing The Next Level For This Dive? If Yes, Why? If Not, Why Not?

I have already added several completed Java projects on GitHub that would be admissible evidence to seek certification for the next two levels, advanced-beginner and intermediate. When the time is right, I could certainly see myself pursuing the next level for this dive. However, I may seek to pursue a different dive first before advancing this one, such as Coder - Ruby or Coder - Rails.

10. What is the Break Diver's Creed?

No Rules. No Excuses. No Regrets.

Certificate photo:

And having made this post, and provided adequate evidence to the dive committee, Rishi Dhar is now hereby certified by Break Diving, Inc. as: Coder - Java - Level 1. Congratulations ! Thank you for being an inspiration to others!

Certificate number: 1036

The author above wrote this WYSEguidance post as one of the certification requirements to become certified by Break Diving, Inc. for a dive completed. Would you also like to find greater success, happiness, and friendship, and make genuine supportive connections with others around the world pursuing your same dreams? Come join us at Break Diving and soon your story will be the next one you read about on this site!

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