What’s the Current State of Java in 2025?

Java has seen plenty of new features! Performance has really ramped up with virtual threads and improved garbage collection. Project Leyden has also made strides in startup time, achieving a 30% improvement without needing any changes to client code. Valhalla is set to ship first JEPs soon, focusing on opt-in null safety and minimal app changes. Records and pattern matching are noteworthy new features too. On top of that, Quarkus has emerged, allowing enterprise Java to start in about 100 milliseconds using GraalVM. It might not be groundbreaking, but it keeps backward compatibility while delivering real improvements.

Spring Boot is still the go-to framework and likely always will be! IntelliJ is widely favored now, packed with AI features that make it hard to claim you’re writing all your code yourself. Very few people write Java in VSCode, except maybe students without access to proper IDEs. Maven and Gradle remain the standard build tools, integrated into most deployment platforms. Kotlin has gained traction, especially in Android dev, though it’s yet to dominate Spring Boot backends. Functional programming has been widely adopted—lambdas, streams, and optionals are now considered basic Java. Pattern matching and other features are gradually being rolled out.

Generally, the same tools are still in play. Stream APIs were introduced, but they haven’t drastically altered the OOP-oriented focus of Java. Oracle still holds the reins, and OpenJDK is hanging around. Some Java developers have shifted to other languages—Kotlin for JVM scenarios, but many are switching to Python, Go, or JavaScript altogether.