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Key Takeaways From the Cloud Native Java Survey

The Jakarta EE Working Group conducted the first-ever Cloud Native Java Survey between July 11, 2024 and August 23, 2024 to gather insights on popular Java SE versions, Jakarta EE, and MicroProfile usage. The results from over 170 respondents left us with a number of important takeaways about the adoption of enterprise Java technologies, developer priorities, and more. Here are the key findings.

Java EE/Jakarta EE Adoption

  • Jakarta EE 8 & Java EE 8 remain the most widely used versions.
  • Jakarta EE 10 adoption is growing as developers skip EE 9/9.1, which were transitional.
  • A notable portion still relies on legacy Java EE versions (e.g., EE 6, released 15 years ago).
A pie chart displaying versions of Jakarta EE and Java EE and their popularity as a percentage. Jakarta EE 10 with 52%; Java EE 8 with 34%; Jakarta EE 8 with 22%; Don't use with 18%; Jakarta EE 9.x with 14%; Java EE 6 with 13%; Java EE 7 with 10%; Older than Java EE 6 with 10%.

MicroProfile Adoption

  • A majority do not use MicroProfile.
  • Those who do mostly run newer versions (MicroProfile 6 aligns with Jakarta EE 10).
  • Some developers remain on older MicroProfile releases, indicating slow migration.
A pie chart displaying versions of MicroProfile and their popularity as a percentage. Don't use with 50%; MicroProfile 6.x with 35%; MicroProfile 5.x with 19%; MicroProfile 4.x with 12%; MicroProfile 3.x with 11%; MicroProfile 1.x with 6%; MicroProfile 2.x with 4%.

Java SE Versions

  • Java SE 17 is the most used version.
  • Almost half of developers are already on Java SE 21.
  • Java SE 8 and 11 still have significant usage, despite being outdated.
A pie chart displaying versions of Java SE and their popularity as a percentage. Java SE 17 with 58%; Java SE 21 with 48%; Java SE 11 with 38%; Java SE 8 with 37%; Java SE 22 with 13%; Java SE 7 or older with 10%.
  • Spring Boot, Tomcat, Quarkus, and WildFly dominate the landscape.
  • GlassFish, JBoss EAP, Payara, and Open Liberty also have strong adoption.
  • Jetty, TomEE, and WebSphere hold niche market shares.
  • Helidon and some Asian runtimes have limited traction (~5% adoption).
A pie chart displaying popular Java Runtimes. Spring Boot with 38%; Tomcat with 33%; Quarkus with 32%; WildFly with 31%; GlassFish with 20%; JBoss EAP with 18%; Payara with 18%; Liberty with 16%; Jetty with 14%; TomEE with 14%; WebSphere with 13%, WebLogic with 13%.
  • Jakarta REST (JAX-RS), CDI, and JPA are the most widely used.
  • JSON, Servlet, and EJB also see strong adoption.
  • JSF, JSP, and JMS usage is declining as JavaScript frameworks and alternative messaging solutions gain traction.
A horizontal bar chart where the y-axis is the Jakarta EE API and the x-axis represents the usage as a percentage. The first group is as follows: REST with 70%, CDI with 68%, Persistence with 66%. The second group is as follows: JSON Binding with 58%, Servlet with 57%, JSON Processing with 53%, Validation with 53%, Enterprise Beans with 52%. The third group is as follows: Transactions with 49%, Mail with 48%, Faces with 44%, Messaging with 42%, Security with 40%, Expression Language with 38%. The fourth group is as follows: SOAP with 34%, Concurrency with 33%, WebSocket with 28%, Batch with 21%, Pages with 21%, Connectors with 19%.

MicroProfile APIs

  • Config, OpenAPI, and REST Client lead usage.
  • Health, Metrics, and JWT are commonly used for cloud native applications.
  • GraphQL, OpenTracing, and Reactive Messaging see limited adoption.
A horizontal bar chart where the y-axis is the MicroProfile API and the x-axis represents the usage as a percentage. The first group is as follows: Config with 49%, OpenAPI with 44%, Rest Client with 41%. The second group is as follows: Health with 38%, Metrics with 36%, JWT with 34%. The third group is as follows: Telemetry with 28%, Fault Tolerance with 27%. The fourth group is as follows: OpenTracing with 19%, Reactive Messaging with 19%, Context Propagation with 18%, GraphQL with 13%, LRA with 8%.

Developer Priorities for Jakarta EE & MicroProfile

  • Adapting to Java SE innovations (e.g., Virtual Threads, Project CRaC, Project Leyden).
  • Enhanced Kubernetes support (e.g., integration with Kubernetes Secrets).
  • Deprecating legacy features like EJB, favoring CDI-based alternatives.
  • New features, including:
    • Jakarta Messaging Lite for modern cloud use cases.
    • CDI-based replacements for EJB Message-Driven Beans, @Schedule, and @RolesAllowed.
    • A standard API for server management.

Other Key Insights

  • The majority still use the Jakarta EE platform.
  • Most developers combine Jakarta EE and MicroProfile, though some use Jakarta EE alone.
  • JSON over HTTP (REST) dominates API usage; XML and SOAP are declining, while OpenAPI is widely used.

The Jakarta EE Working Group thanks all participants and will use these insights to guide future improvements.

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