CTO Takes on Java Development Trends

Each year, I have the distinct pleasure of compiling JRebel’s annual Java Developer Productivity Report, and I can safely say that this year’s report is the most thorough and insightful edition yet.  

We surveyed 440 Java users for the 2024 Java Developer Productivity Report. While the majority (42%) classified their role as Java developers, another 22% classified their role as Java architect. This year’s survey also saw an increase in responses from individuals in leadership roles, with 15% saying their role is team lead and 11% saying their role is director or vice president. These stats are important because the survey has always been—and will continue to be—geared toward the boots on the ground in Java development.  

Source: 2024 Java Developer Productivity Report

Diving deeper into the demographics, 29% of respondents were from Enterprise companies with 1,000+ employees, 22% were from mid-sized companies with 100 – 1,000 employees, 14% were from small companies with 20-100 employees, 18% were from startups with less than 20 employees, and 17% were contractors or freelancers. The majority (29%) were from development teams of 3 to 9 developers, with teams of 10-20 developers trailing slightly behind at 25%.  

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Amid chatter about economic headwinds and market forces, our CTOs found it encouraging that 60% of respondents said their companies have plans to add Java developers in the coming year while 42% plan to increase their Java development tool budget in 2024.  

Source: 2024 Java Developer Productivity Report

In conjunction, these numbers send a strong message that Java is here to stay as a core part of enterprise applications. The fact that companies are very deeply entrenched with large Java applications will continue to be a driving force for hiring Java developers throughout the developer ecosystem. 

“I’m always really interested in data that supports my contrarian viewpoint to the established narrative,” says Deepak Giridharagopal, CTO at Perforce. “Seeing this data confirms suspicions that I've long had; this stuff isn’t going away.”  

While naysayers might cite the decline of Java, the reality is a stark contrast. There is so much Java code already out there—there's no scenario where you go from that to no one writing Java code, says Rod Cope. 

While other languages like node.js or Go are often cited as the next big thing, they often lack the interconnection of the Java community has contributed to the language’s longevity and stickiness. 

The 2024 Java Developer Productivity Report found that 42% of respondents have fully transitioned to microservices, while 45% are currently transitioning to microservices. But when we dove deeper, we found that those microservice environments might not be delivering on their initial promises. 43% of respondents said their microservice startup has increased by 10% or more.  

Source: 2024 Java Developer Productivity Report

Dive deeper though, and those microservices might not be so "micro" after all. The chart above illustrates how the number of microservices in enterprise applications has ballooned over the past four years,  with the number of respondents using 11 or more microservices ballooning from 16% in 2021 to 41% in 2024. Examining this year's data, 18% using 11-20 microservices and 23% using more than 21 microservices. 

“Microservices are a great tool in the toolbox but they’re not the one tool to solve every problem,” says Rod Cope. “The newest tool always looks the shiniest for a while and this is an example of that.”  

It’s worth examining who’s reverting from microservices—and whether alternative application architecture structures like miniservices or macroservices might be an appropriate alternative.  

Cloud Commoditization is Leading to Differentiation

Alternate solutions (case in point, IBM Cloud Platform, Oracle Cloud Platform, and SAP Cloud Platform) may provide organizations with unique advantages, like pricing, analytics, or other unique capabilities, and this data point shows that organizations are exploring those options while the “Big 3” of cloud providers remains steadfast.  

Many Java developers have a hard-coded preference to a specific IDE, but the reality is that there may not be a one-size-fits-all tool for today’s multi-language environment. That trend was reflected in this year’s survey results.  

Once again, IntelliJ IDEA topped the charts with 41% of respondents. Eclipse held onto the second position (23%), but Microsoft Visual Studio Code, or VSCode, is close behind at 19%. Additionally, 84% of respondents using IntelliJ IDEA said they use more than one IDE in their Java development practice, with VSCode being the most popular secondary IDE. 

Source: 2024 Java Developer Productivity Report

10 years ago you wouldn’t ever see Java in any Microsoft stuff but they’re starting to edge into the Java space, Giridharagopal notes. VSCode becomes a versatile tool in a developer’s toolbelt not just for its debugging features, but also for its multi-language capabilities. Jetbrains has noticed this trend with its own polyglot-savvy IDE, Fleet, which is currently in Beta.  

 Source: 2024 Java Developer Productivity Report

Productivity teams are a rising Java development trend for 2024. Is your team testing and trialing Java productivity tools for broader implementation? Add JRebel to your list.  

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