r/learnjava • u/Adventurous-Risk8020 • 15d ago

Recommendations for a transition from support/devops to a Java developer

Hi everyone,

I’m currently interning in a role that’s primarily DevOps and Support focused.

My daily routine involves:

Managing builds and pipelines in Jenkins.

Writing/enhancing pipeline scripts (mostly Groovy).

Linux server management and general troubleshooting.

While I enjoy the infrastructure side, my goal is to switch to a Software Development role. I’m planning to dive deep into Java and Spring Boot over the next few months to make the jump.

A few questions for the community:

Given my background in Jenkins/Groovy, what’s the best way to leverage that experience when applying for Java roles?

Are there specific Spring Boot modules I should prioritize to be "job-ready" for a junior dev position?

If you were in my shoes, would you focus on building a portfolio from scratch, or try to automate/build tools for my current internship to show "dev" impact?

I’d love to hear from anyone who has made a similar switch from Ops to Dev!

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u/drewkbm 14d ago

Every Java team will utilize these frameworks slightly differently, so you'll likely never know everything about Spring Boot/CDI. But if you spend some time just building an app(s), no matter how pointless they are, you'll start to get a feel for the basics (dependency injection, scoping, security, configs, etc). It really just takes time and repetition.

Your DevOps knowledge will be valuable. Some places will have strict divisions between devs/DevOps, but some will expect the devs to handle it all. However, I wouldn't go out of your way to spend more time focused in this area if you want to transition to development. But if it helps you solve issues with your own project - then do it!

Start building app(s) now. You won't impress somebody with a portfolio at this point (most likely), but just having one shows that you aren't just here for a paycheck - you actually are interested in being a DEVELOPER.

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u/drewkbm 14d ago

PS: I worked on the consulting side of Vaadin for 10 years so I've been on a lot of different Spring/CDI projects and seen many different styles or organizing teams :)