It's only five years old and it's already dominating the playground: Java, Sun's popular programming language. If you're involved in the Web, multimedia, or enterprise networking, Java is something you need to take seriously. Sun is behind the product for the long haul, so anyone with programming skills in Java should be able to have a job as long as they want it.

You won't get rich unless you're doing your own dot-com IPO with something Java-related, but in some fields you won't prosper at all without Java skills. And investing the time and money to become Java-savvy has other benefits. With Java skills tacked onto an otherwise solid résumé, you'll find yourself in demand and with your pick of interesting positions.

Java job options

When you think of Java, you think of programming, but that's not the only kind of job you can land with Java on your résumé. Programming in Java is the No. 1 application of Java knowledge--and Java programming is hot. Techies.com recently combed through its vast database of job openings and came up with a top-10 list of the most often asked-for IT knowledge areas. Java came in second behind C++.

You don't need to be a programmer, though, to benefit from knowledge of Java when it comes to building your career. I took a tour of online recruiting sites, looking for Java-related jobs. I found a wide array of job descriptions, including one media director position that specified a serious knowledge of Java and its capabilities for adding whiz-bang qualities to a Web site. Other kinds of Java-related jobs included senior network engineers and even a few technical recruiting jobs. The bottom line is that Java knowledge is one of those IT skill areas that's guaranteed to help you land and keep an IT job. It's that popular--and will be for years to come, particularly for Web-related IT jobs. Even if you're a card-carrying Windows NT professional, knowing how to write Java code will help increase your marketability.

Part of the mix

If you're a career programmer (yes, they do exist) and you love to code, take the time to learn Java. If you're a professional programmer, you can learn Java on your own through online or CD-based classes. If you are comfortable and proficient in one programming language, especially an object-oriented one such as C++, Java will be easy for you to pick up.

Make sure to get one or two challenging Java projects under your belt before you add it to your résumé, however. Experience counts in landing Java positions, as it does with all IT positions. You also want to make sure that you enjoy Java enough to make a long-term commitment to keeping up with new versions.

One more word of advice to professional programmers: you may feel that you want to specialize in one programming language or one programming application area. That's fine, but I'd still advise you to check out Java. You need to keep your programming skills current, and Java is an easy enough addition to your skills base.

If you are a Web-site developer, particularly if you are into e-commerce, you will need to know Java. There's no getting around the need to be able to understand and implement this technology on the Web. Learn all you can about Java, and then get the training you need to make the most of the technology.

If you're an IT professional and would like to learn more about Java, but know you're not interested in Java programming, first read a few of the Java books for beginners. They will tell you if you need more knowledge of Java in the kind of work you do. Then, if you're interested in experiencing Java, follow some of the educational paths that Sun has set up for non-programmers.

Where the jobs are

A lot of Java jobs are closely tied to Web development, so wherever you find sophisticated Web development, you'll find a need for Java skills. Sun itself is a major Java employer--not just for development jobs, but also for jobs such as training and technical support. Most of the jobs are at company headquarters in Palo Alto, Calif., but there are Java jobs available in the company's other sites around the world.

IT jobs of all kinds--but particularly Web-related jobs--are hard to fill. A Java programmer with a few years of experience can start at around $45,000 and move up quickly from there. The top earnings level out at around $65,000 to $75,000, unless you want to move into project management or technical consulting. Then you can move into the lower six figures, depending upon how good you are and how generous your company is with the megabucks it's making on consulting services.

Long-term Java job prospects are excellent, especially with all the uncertainty about what's happening in the courts with Microsoft. Sun is pulling out all the stops to provide interested IT people training opportunities. The company is also working toward making Java a must-have technology in a number of applications areas, such as the Web and enterprise networking.

Learn more about java

If you're interested in learning more about Java and Java-related job opportunities, your first stop should be the Java site. There you can learn more about Java and the comprehensive training options Sun is offering. Then do what I did and check out Java job openings by visiting a few online IT recruiting sites. You may find that with a little extra effort and education, you can add Java to your résumé and land yourself a job that pays tens of thousands of dollars more.

Contributing Editor Molly W. Joss askmolly@computeruser.com also writes the daily Ask Molly column on computeruser.com

Java-related training and certification

Of course, Sun offers certification courses for Java professionals. The company also offers online, CD-based, and live education courses for Java. If you're adding Java to your skills base, you can do that in your spare time with online or CD courses. If you need to get up to speed quickly, then classroom training is the way to go.

Sun offers several Java certification programs for IT professionals. You can even take a few courses, such as Java Programming Language for Non-Programmers, if you want to skip the programmer or development route. Java developers will need to spend the most time on the certification path-which makes sense because most programmers find Java easy to learn.

For developers and programmers, Sun also offers a wide range of other Java courses that are geared toward specific application areas. These courses, such as those on developing user interfaces and enterprise systems, help you zero in hot areas of specialization. There's even a free programmer's camp that helps you polish your Java programming skills.

Sun is not the only game in town here. There are lots of third-party training organizations offering Java-related training. There's nothing wrong with this kind of training; just make sure the instructors are Java-certified. You will also want to make sure that the courses offer enough Java-specific information for your purposes. A general survey course in programming or development will not be enough for most IT professionals.

Of course, once you're trained, you will have to put time and money into continuing your training. That's a given for all IT professionals, but programmers and developers can't afford to fall behind even a version or two. However, given Sun's apparent dedication to Java, there should be ample and affordable opportunities for keeping up with the latest in Java.

M.W.J.