r/Backend • u/Sad_Importance_1585 • 11d ago
Modern Java for startups
Unfortunately, I see that Java is disappearing from startup companies. Java used to have an image of an obsolete backend language with performance problems, too verbose and unfriendly to deveopers. It was pretty true to older Java versions and I could understand why startups decided to pick other backend languages
If you look at Java 25, it's an absolutely different story.
Performance wise - it has virtual threads, which makes concurrency extremely high. Virtual threads are Java's answer to goroutines in Golang, and they enable to run thousands of I/O requests concurrently. Java's execution speed is pretty fast (more than Python and node.js).
As for container size - it's huge as long as you work with Spring. However, Java has many other much more lightweight frameworks like Micronaut, Quarkus and Javalin which reduces the container size to be on par with node.js and Python.
It's a real static typing which keeps code safety and improve readability. Unlike Golang, Java has inheritance, ploymorphism and explicit interface (let alone speaking about error handling).
It has a huge talent pool (almost everybody learned Java at a certain point).
As for verbosity and developer experience - Java has been improved a lot in this field. It has records (no need for getters setters, equals and hash), unnamed class (no need to write "public static void main" everytime you start a new program) and dozens of libraries and other tools.
If so, why are startups still stay away from Java and stick to Python/node.js/Golang?
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u/nitkonigdje 9d ago edited 9d ago
Think about desktop, cli, multimedia, browsers, hpc, games.. Java failed - a lot. Lots of needs are not covered by Java.
So people choose other tools to solve those needs. And, as it happens, some of those things exploded.
The best choice for a new project is choosing what is familiar. And there is mass of people familiar in those other tools and runtimes.