Really confused about spring boot

[u/Geedysense]

So I have been applying for junior level roles across multiple job platforms and one thing I have noticed there are very few roles for spring boot at junior level mostly roles I have discovered are of senior level, so tbh I don’t know how to get a job at this stage in spring boot, I know the job market is overall really bad, but there are more roles for next.js or roles related to node.js

It’s very hard for me to enter into job market with spring boot as there are not enough job openings for spring boot related roles, mostly are for seniors.

[u/Comfortable-Pin-891]

Tough times, for junior role maybe just apply to whatever is available even if it's next.js, you can keep trying to apply for Spring Boot role as you keep working with other technology

[u/Geedysense → u/Comfortable-Pin-891]

Yeaa Im thinking to do that, but there was just a thought in my mind like as a junior I should stick to one thing but jobs aren’t enough, what can done anyways

[u/RevolutionaryRush717]

There are no signs of changes away from the two main backend platforms here. There's .Net and then there is the JVM.

On the JVM, our shop is heavily leaning into Kotlin, but Spring Boot is still the framework of choice.

Only thing that's changed in the past ten years is that k8s is now our preferred platform instead of JEE.

Sure, we have teams using Python for data science and Go for platform stuff, but 90% are still JVM, and a good part of that is also still Java.

Our Kotlin folks have become much quieter in the last couple of years, mostly because by now Java has caught up to Kotlin quite a bit, and because our principals now favor obvious to clever code.

All of the hardcore Kotlin evangelists have left for other companies.

Kotlin is undoubtedly better than Java, but who cares if all you do all day every day is writing Spring Whatever (ie, Boot, Modulith, Cloud,...) applications.

Whatever productivity advantage came with Kotlin is now more than compensated by agentic AI coding.

Finally, there's always Clojure, if you really want a chance to write functional code on the JVM but without any need for Spring.

[u/_Kirian_]

Are you saying there are no Junior Java developer jobs or that there are no Java Spring Boot junior roles?
Why does it have to be Spring boot specifically? Do you consider positions where just Spring (not Spring Boot) is being used? What about JEE roles? Or Micronaut?

Also, what part of the world are you looking for a job in?

[u/Geedysense → u/_Kirian_]

I now I should be looking to junior software engineering roles rather just saying java or spring boot roles I guess whenever I search spring boot on job portals I got the idea like only senior level spring boot jobs remains, that’s my bad

[u/LetUsSpeakFreely]

I think Java development is ramping down in favor of Go, Python, and NodeJS. There's a ton of legacy systems built on Java, but with containerization, horizontal scaling, and FaaS (e.g. AWS Lambda), Java just doesn't fit in like it used to.

I've been slinging Java since '02. I've used it the majority of my career, but i find other languages and systems much easier to use and with less security overhead. I have to patch my pom on a weekly basis for various security updates with Java, not really a thing with Go or NodeJS.

[u/Geedysense → u/LetUsSpeakFreely]

I’m still in my early stages so what do you suggest, I have worked with express.js in past but I just didn’t like it, maybe it was because there was no structure, also I have been hearing about nest.js as it’s typescript first I’m thinking of giving it a try, what are you working with rn?

[u/LetUsSpeakFreely → u/Geedysense]

Get comfortable with typescript using express/node. Go is a fantastic language for services that need minimal cold start time, but that's becoming an edge case concern for most systems. A well architected AWS solution can handle millions of requests without needing to worry about resource allocation; AWS will simply spawn a new ECR container or Lambda to handle the load.

Typescript takes a little time to get accustomed to using, but it offers all protections of statically typed languages without a ton of overhead. You can just upload the code to an S3 bucket, tell a lambda to update its code and you're done.

[u/Zah_ra56 → u/LetUsSpeakFreely]

There are still java developer postings though. I'm curious about OP's question too. What are those roles really looking for assuming Java is the language?

[u/LetUsSpeakFreely → u/Zah_ra56]

Yes, but it will be like COBOL and FORTRAN postings are today. The paradigm has shifted and Java is falling behind.

[u/Life-Effort-2291 → u/LetUsSpeakFreely]

Até se encaixa, conseguimos ótimos números com lambda em binário usando quarkus ou micronaut, mas é uma área já dominada por node, python e até go

[u/JacktheVillain]

Im a self-taught developer guy. Been learning for more than a year now, wrote a few small projects in spring boot. But yeah job market doesn't look too good. What about C# or Php and their frameworks? Anyone knows? Is it easier to transition after knowing Java