How to Build Java Applications Today: #58
README
Welcome to my newsletter “How To Build Java Applications Today”! If you like it, then subscribe to it on Substack! Or read it on dev.to or Medium. Even better: Share it with people who may be interested.
Next Issue: Wednesday, January 5, 2022
My newsletter usually appears on the first Wednesday of every month.
Stand-Up
So here’s the second issue on the monthly cadence. I spent all my time on the “Java Full-Stack Index” (see below), measuring the popularity of technologies in five areas with four data points. I planned to add a new section to the newsletter but ran out of time. Why?
I attended Devoxx UK, where I gave one talk, and W-JAX Munich, where I gave two talks ( here and here). I was on-site for both conferences. Finally!
I’m also honored to be on the Program Committee (PC) for the next QCon London. It’s my first time on a conference PC, and I’m loving it!
Apart from all my conference activities, I also worked in my own start-up. And finally, I set up my brand-new MacBook Pro 16" with M1 Max and 64 GB RAM. You know, “My computer has too much RAM!” isn’t a valid sentence in English! 😁
Anyhow, I hope to have a new section in my newsletter next month. See you then!
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Java Full-Stack Index December 2021
What do we need to build a Java application today? A JVM language, a database, a back-end framework, a web framework, and — if we want to get fancy — a mobile app framework. So my index recommends technologies in these five areas, based on popularity, industry analysis, and my 22 years of Java experience.
Why am I measuring popularity?
- Picking a popular technology makes our developer life easier: Easier to learn, easier to build, debug & deploy, easier to hire, and easier to convince teammates & bosses.
- Popularity can make a difference in two situations: When multiple technologies score the same, you could go for the most popular one. And when a technology is very unpopular, we may not use it.
How am I measuring popularity?
I measure popularity by systematically observing what millions of developers do. And by monitoring not one but four popularity data points across the entire technology adoption journey, I can forecast the popularity of technologies in the near future.
- I look at technology popularity as a funnel from interest to learning, application, and finally to skill.
- Quantity decreases in the funnel — we’re interested in many technologies, but few end up on our resumes.
- Time increases in the funnel — it takes many months, often years, for technology to move from “interest” to “skill”.
- We’re interested in the trend of the ratio between competing technologies.
- We use Google searches to measure interest, Udemy course buyers to measure learning, Stack Overflow questions to measure learning & application, and mentions in Indeed job ads to measure skills.
So what’s changed over the index from November?
- I updated all charts for all technologies with the latest numbers. I collected those November 24–26.
- For JVM languages, databases, and back-end frameworks, I compared the numbers of Udemy students against the ones from November. For JVM languages, I did the same for mentions in Indeed job ads. This hints at trends, but these trends need more time to become visible.
- Both the front-end and back-end frameworks now show all technologies in the charts for the numbers of Udemy students and the mentions in Indeed job ads.
- I corrected several typos. I barely managed to get last month’s issue out before I went off to my conferences, so I couldn’t proofread this properly then.
About
Karsten Silz is the author of this newsletter. He is a full-stack web & mobile developer with 22 years of Java experience, author, speaker, and marathon runner. Karsten got a Master’s degree in Computer Science at the Dresden University of Technology (Germany) in 1996.
Karsten has worked in Europe and the US. He co-founded a software start-up in the US in 2004. Karsten led product development for 13 years and left after the company was sold successfully. He co-founded the UK SaaS start-up “ Your Home in Good Hands” as CTO in 2020. Since 2019, Karsten also works as a contractor in the UK.
Karsten has this newsletter, a developer website, and a contractor site. He’s on LinkedIn, Twitter, and GitHub. Karsten is also an author at InfoQ.
Originally published at https://bpfnl.substack.com on December 7, 2021.
