If you're interested in top technologies, tools, and development trends shaping the Java ecosystem in 2023 and beyond, you're in the right place. In this article, we've collected the key insights from the annual Java Developer Productivity report conducted by JRebel.
About the Research
Since its inception in 2012, the Java Developer Productivity report was based on a survey of Java development professionals all across the globe, across different companies and industries. This year, the survey drew a total of 411 responses, allowing us to get valuable data on the current state of the Java ecosystem — from top tools, technologies, and emerging trends to the challenges developers may face.
As we already mentioned, developers were surveyed from all around the world, but the majority of them were from the US.
Participants were also required to indicate their job roles within their companies. As in previous years, the majority of respondents held positions as Java developers (almost 45%). The second most common job title among respondents was Java architect.
Which JDK Version Do Developers Use?
Let's delve into the core of the survey: Java Language and Development trends.
The participants were asked to tell what JDK programming language they employed in their primary applications. Similar to the previous year's findings, the majority of respondents indicated Java 8 (31%) as their primary application's programming language. It was followed by Java 11 (28%), Java 17 (19%), Java 18 or newer (6%), and Java 7 or older (3%). Kotlin, Groovy, and Scala were less popular this year, collectively accounting for 13%.
Notably, this year marks the growing number of users embracing Java 8. With more than half of the participants using newer Java versions, we witness the early signs of companies starting to upgrade their Java ecosystems with newer technologies.
When participants were surveyed about what drove them to upgrade JDK versions, the majority of them cited long-term support (LTS) as the primary factor. Security and the incorporation of new features were the next significant factors, accounting for 24% and 18% respectively.
Which JRE/JDK Distributions Are the Most Popular?
Not surprisingly, Oracle Java remains to be the leader here, garnering 30% of the preferences. Generic OpenJDK (21%) and AdoptOpenJDK/Adoptium (15%) were also quite popular choices.
OpenLogic's versions of OpenJDK secured the bottom spot this year. They were chosen only by 2% of the respondents.
Top Java Application Architecture Trends
The respondents also shared their experience with the architecture of the primary application they developed. Microservice-oriented applications took the leading position with a share of 32%, trailed by Monolithic applications at 22%. Modular Monolithic applications comprised 12% of the responses, while Service-Oriented Architectures garnered 10%.
The adoption of Microservices as the go-to solution for Java applications has peaked in popularity within the Java ecosystems employed by companies of all sizes. And there are several key factors that contributed to this trend — the significant expenses involved in transitioning an application's architecture to microservices and the development of hybrid-focused applications that yielded greater benefits for well-established systems.
The Most Common Microservices Frameworks
Moving on to the next question, the most preferred microservice application framework, we would like to note that Spring Boot continues to hold the top position, securing 59% of all the responses. In contrast, Quarkus, Micronaut, DropWizard, and Vert.x collectively accounted just for 8%, 6%, 2%, and 1% respectively, making up the lower tiers.
As for the "Other" category, it incorporated such enterprise application specifications as MicroProfile and Spring framework. However, the prevailing response in this category was “the absence of using any microservice framework at all”.
Java Technology Trends: The Most Popular Java IDEs
Each year, the report also includes the most commonly-used Integrated Development Environments (IDEs). IntelliJ IDEA stably remains the most favored option among developers, reaching 42%. Eclipse, in its turn, is used by 27% of responders, while VSCode is used by 22% and NetBeans by 5%.
Demand for Java Developers in 2023
Finally, the respondents were asked to indicate whether or not their company is planning to hire new specialists in 2023 and beyond. And the results are more than positive.
Approximately 63% of corporations aspire to hire new Java developers, while 28% are still hesitating.
Conclusion
Ultimately, the demand for Java developers remains exceptionally high. And we hope that this brief overview of the annual Java Developer Productivity Report by JRebel has shed light on the top technologies, tools, and development trends that are used by Java specialists worldwide.
By staying attuned to these trends, you'll be able to remain demandable and proficient within the Java development world for long years to come. And if you're willing to get a grasp of these tools and technologies ASAP, CodeGym offers everything to help you master them. Let's make it happen!
Participants were also required to indicate their job roles within their companies. As in previous years, the majority of respondents held positions as Java developers (almost 45%). The second most common job title among respondents was Java architect.
Notably, this year marks the growing number of users embracing Java 8. With more than half of the participants using newer Java versions, we witness the early signs of companies starting to upgrade their Java ecosystems with newer technologies.
When participants were surveyed about what drove them to upgrade JDK versions, the majority of them cited long-term support (LTS) as the primary factor. Security and the incorporation of new features were the next significant factors, accounting for 24% and 18% respectively.
The adoption of Microservices as the go-to solution for Java applications has peaked in popularity within the Java ecosystems employed by companies of all sizes. And there are several key factors that contributed to this trend — the significant expenses involved in transitioning an application's architecture to microservices and the development of hybrid-focused applications that yielded greater benefits for well-established systems.
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