How to Build Java Applications Today?

I Help You Answer This Question

My quarterly “Java Tech Popularity Index” measures the popularity of IDEs, build tools, JVM languages, databases, back-end frameworks, web frameworks, and mobile app frameworks with data from millions of developers: job ads from 59 countries, online training students, Stack Overflow questions, and Google searches.

Why popularity? Because picking a popular technology makes our developer life easier: easier to learn, easier to build, debug & deploy, easier to find jobs/hire, and easier to convince teammates & bosses. Now popularity can make a difference in two situations: When multiple technologies score similarly, we could go for the most popular one. And when a technology is very unpopular, we may not use it.

Java Tech Popularity Index Q2/2023 (May 1, 2023)

Read the index to see all scorecards, all details & my recommendations!

I use scorecards show the current standings & trends of the top three technologies in each area. The runner-up is at 100%, but not on the card. The leader (left) and number 3 (right) are. The red arrows show the trend vs. the runner-up. Below are two examples.

How does Java hold up against its competition? Here is JavaScript (100%) vs. Python (left) and Java (right). The arrows show the trend vs. JavaScript.

Python slightly declines in jobs against JavaScript but holds steady or slightly increases in all other categories. Java holds steady in searches but declines slightly everywhere else.

And what about back-end frameworks? Here is Jakarta EE (100%), not on the card, vs. Spring Boot (left) and Quarkus (right). The arrows show the trend vs. Jakarta EE.

Spring Boot pulls away from Jakarta EE everywhere except for jobs, where it dropped from 588% in June 2022. Quarkus gains on Jakarta EE everywhere and pulls away in Stack Overflow questions.

Wait, there’s more in the “Java Tech Popularity Index Q2/2023”: All back-end frameworks lost job ad share to Jakarta EE. VS Code was #2 in IDE job ads, beating IntelliJ. React still only had a slim job ads lead over Angular. Python beat Java by 3x for Udemy course buyers. In Stack Overflow questions, Postgres overtook MySQL, and Gradle surpassed Maven.

Read the index to see all scorecards, all details & my recommendations!

I also help you get started with technologies that are important for us Java developers.

I share slides, videos, additional information, and links to get started for my conference and JUG talks.

Why Should You Listen to Me?

• I’ve been a full-stack Java developer for 24 years. And I still write code every single day.
• As a Java news reporter at InfoQ, I know what’s happening in the software development world.
• As CTO of my own SaaS start-up, I’m constantly evaluating how to better build & run a Java back-end, a web front-end, and native mobile apps.

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You can also follow me on Twitter, reach out on LinkedIn or Xing, or drop me an email at ksilz@outlook.com.