clipse’s latest survey reveals increasing adoption of Jakarta EE among enterprise Java developers, while MicroProfile struggles against the rising popularity of Spring
Jakarta EE, the Eclipse Foundation’s enterprise Java platform, is experiencing a surge in adoption, while the use of MicroProfile, Eclipse’s microservices framework, is on the decline. This insight comes from the annual Jakarta EE Developer Survey Report for 2023, released on September 19. The report indicates a positive trend for Jakarta EE since its introduction in September 2022, with 17% of enterprise Java developers now utilizing Jakarta EE 10. This marks a significant increase in its presence within the developer community.
According to the survey, 17% of respondents reported running Jakarta EE 9 in production, an increase from 14% the previous year. Additionally, 28% of developers are still using Jakarta EE 8, up from 24% in 2022. More than 60% of those surveyed have either migrated to Jakarta EE or plan to do so within the next six to 24 months, demonstrating a growing confidence in the framework’s capabilities.
In the context of cloud-native applications, Jakarta EE ranks second, with 53% of respondents utilizing it, trailing behind Spring and Spring Boot, which are used by 66%. The stable percentage for Jakarta EE in cloud-native development contrasts with a notable 9% increase in Spring’s adoption. Meanwhile, MicroProfile, which previously held a stronger position, saw its usage decline from 30% to 26%. This shift highlights a changing landscape where traditional frameworks are adapting to the demands of modern development practices.
The survey also identified the top community priorities for Jakarta EE developers, which include enhanced support for Kubernetes, better microservices capabilities, and adapting to innovations in Java SE, such as records and virtual threads. Additionally, there is a call for improved support for serverless architectures and testing methodologies. These priorities indicate a clear direction for future development efforts within the Jakarta EE ecosystem.
Conducted from mid-March to late-May, the survey gathered responses from 2,203 participants, mainly comprising developers, architects, and team leaders. This broad feedback is crucial for understanding the needs and perceptions of the enterprise developer community. Eclipse’s stewardship of enterprise Java has been pivotal since taking over from Oracle in 2017, and the Jakarta EE platform is now positioning itself as a key player in cloud environments.
Jakarta EE encompasses a wide range of specifications, including web profiles, batch processing, concurrency, and data handling. Its evolving capabilities are aimed at making enterprise Java more relevant in the cloud computing era, reflecting the ongoing trends and requirements of modern application development.