DSA Basics with Java: A Beginner’s Guide with Yash Jain

Start learning Data Structures and Algorithms with Java. 📚

New to DSA, or revisiting the fundamentals before interview preparation? This free guide explains the core concepts through simple examples, visual diagrams, and exercises you can try yourself.

🎯 Who is this for?

Students, early career developers, and engineers refreshing their foundations. You should already understand Java variables, conditions, loops, and basic methods. No prior DSA knowledge is required.

📖 What you’ll learn

• How to reason about time and space complexity

• Arrays, ArrayList, strings, maps, and sets

• Stacks and queues using ArrayDeque

• Linear search, binary search, and sorting basics

• Linked lists, recursion, binary trees, and graph traversal

• A structured approach to solving and testing coding problems

🛠️ What’s inside

• 16 runnable Java examples with expected output

• Four diagrams explaining search and traversal

• Six practice exercises with hints and complexity explanations

• Common mistakes, boundary cases, and input assumptions

• A flexible seven session learning plan

💡 Learn by doing

Run the examples, change the inputs, and explain the results in your own words. The goal is to understand the fundamentals, not memorise solutions.

Format: PDF guide in English, with examples verified on Java 21.

Scope: This is a beginner foundation, not a complete interview preparation course or an advanced DSA reference.

👋 About the author

I’m Yash Jain, a backend engineer at Atlassian, previously at Swiggy. This is an independent educational resource.

Download it for free and start with your first example.