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The two best resources for learning Java for FTC are the Learn Java Programming with FTC book and Coach Pratt’s Java video tutorials ~Approx. 8 hours. They cover the same core topics — variables, methods, classes, OpModes, hardware mapping, telemetry, and the rest of the FTC-specific patterns — but in two very different formats. Use them together; that’s the point.
How they work together
The book is your reference. It’s chapter-by-chapter, easy to skim back to, and great for reading slowly with code in front of you. The videos are your guide — Coach Pratt walks through the same concepts with live coding and on-screen explanations, which is invaluable when a chapter doesn’t click on first read. When you get stuck in the book, find the matching video and watch it. When you finish a video, open the chapter and re-read it. The repetition between the two formats is what makes the material stick.
Why the book is free
FIRST is a nonprofit youth robotics program, and many of the community’s best learning materials — this book included — are offered at no cost so that no student is locked out of learning to code for their team because of price. If it helps you, share the link with a teammate.
Here is a discussion on Reddit about the free book. Free PDF of Learn Java for FTC — r/FTC
Here is more about the book on GitHub. LearnJavaForFTC on GitHub