Why Java Is Thriving in the Cloud Era: Insights from Vaadin’s 2023 Survey

Vaadin recently released a research report on the state of Java in enterprises, highlighting a transformative resurgence of Java as a cloud‑native technology. Companies continue to invest in new Java applications while modernizing existing ones, keeping Java at the core of business software.

Half of the surveyed Java applications require modernization, which may involve upgrading technology stacks, adopting new frameworks, and deploying to cloud‑native environments. Maintainability is the top driver for modernization, followed by security risks.

Security is a primary concern for Java developers, with 78% considering "ensuring application security" a core issue; 24% view it as a major challenge and 54% see it as a moderate challenge.

Cloud infrastructure and serverless platforms are seen as important evolutions for Java applications. Migration to the cloud is progressing, with one‑third of Java apps already deployed on AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud.

The survey shows that web applications dominate Java usage, while desktop apps account for only 18% of development products. There is strong interest in full‑stack Java development, with 70% planning to use new full‑stack Java applications, followed closely by backend development.

After full‑stack and backend, developers focus on modernizing existing apps (57%), building heterogeneous full‑stack apps with Java and JavaScript/TypeScript (48%), migrating existing apps to the cloud (36%), and creating new front‑ends for existing Java backends (29%).

Among front‑end frameworks, Angular (37%) and React (32%) lead, with Vue at 16%. Meanwhile, 79% of respondents use Spring Boot, and 50% plan to increase its usage. Adoption of Vaadin Flow, Spring Framework, Quarkus, Hilla, and React is expected to grow.

Challenges include building intuitive and simple UX, which 30% consider a major challenge and 51% see as a moderate challenge.

More than three‑quarters of organizations plan to adopt Java 17 within a year, indicating a smooth migration path.

For full details, see the complete report: https://pages.vaadin.com/java-survey-2023