Java is 30. If that makes you feel old, cheer up. Remember how groundbreaking and appealing the Java software language and platform has been over the years, think about how it has helped nurture a huge proportion of enterprise open source development (not to mention how it has essentially underpinned the web itself) and – if you’re still feeling bad about all the years having flown past, remind yourself that Java might be 30, but Britney Spears is 43.

Software engineers respect Java for its longevity, its ability to maintain release momentum for so many years (a factor which has enabled it to retain a high level of relevance over the years), its modern features like lambdas (which appeared in Java 8), pattern matching, records and virtual threads (such as Project Loom). Users have (often unknowingly) enjoyed Java through their use of the web, the fact that they carry an Android phone in their pocket (Android was, of course, written in Java) and the enterprise-scale deployments of Java across finance and government that users remain oblivious to, yet dependent upon.

Occasionally-Ubiquitous Deliciousness

Given the “age” of this occasionally ubiquitous technology today, how does the technology industry itself feel about it?

“Java may be turning 30, but it’s far from showing its age – as it continues to underpin much of modern software development. Java’s longevity lies in a rare balance: Consistent backward compatibility paired with continuous evolution. The Java Virtual Machine’s “write once, run anywhere” principle still resonates, while the syntax has evolved over the years to become more concise, without sacrificing its stability. Enterprise frameworks such as Spring Boot and Jakarta EE have also ensured Java stays aligned with the needs of modern cloud-native and microservices architectures. This vast ecosystem of libraries and tools, combined with widespread enterprise adoption, gives Java staying power that newer languages struggle to match,” said Dewan Ahmed, principal developer advocate at Harness, a company known for its AI-native software delivery platform technology.

Ahmed looks ahead and says that Java’s long-term relevance will hinge on how effectively it adapts to the needs of AI, cloud and edge computing in 2025 and beyond. He thinks that initiatives like Project Panama (which enables AI workloads to run more efficiently on hardware resources) and Project Loom (which helps to meet parallel processing needs at scale) are crucial factors as they are designed to future-proof Java for these emerging demands. 

“In the cloud, ahead-of-time compilation via GraalVM is poised to become more mainstream, while advanced garbage collectors like ZGC and Shenandoah promise to minimize pause times for latency-sensitive applications like real-time analytics. These capabilities will ensure Java remains performant in modern, distributed environments and suggest it will remain so long into the AI-centric future,” said Ahmed.

Red Hat CEO Viewpoint & Vision 

“Java is still a hugely important language that is wielded by a ton of developers… and it runs what is probably the majority of the internet and businesses today,” enthused Matt Hicks, Red Hat CEO. “So, it is a critical platform, but I do think it stands at a fork in the road right now. Does Java maintain that community innovation drive for development and creativity that has always typified it, or does it sort of become a platform that is just sustained for the deployed base of code that exists? For me, I grew up using Java, and I like the capabilities of the language.”

Hicks notes that Red Hat feels Java has a positive future and highlights his team’s work related to Quarkus, the full-stack Java framework designed for cloud-native applications, particularly those deployed on Kubernetes. It’s optimized for fast startup times, low memory consumption and small application sizes, which (arguably) makes it nicely aligned with microservices and serverless development.

According to the Quarkus project team, “Quarkus was created to enable Java developers to create applications for a modern, cloud-native world. Quarkus is a Kubernetes-native Java framework tailored for GraalVM and HotSpot, crafted from best-of-breed Java libraries and standards. The goal is to make Java the leading platform in Kubernetes and serverless environments while offering developers a framework to address a wider range of distributed application architectures.”

If it’s not clear by now, a lot of the thoughts on Java today gravitate around making sure it works with modern front-line cloud-native systems first, thinking about “creating with” Java itself may come second. Red Hat CEO Hicks says that his company is focused on how it can make Java coexist in ecosystems like Kubernetes really well. 

Java Atrophy? Over My Dead Body

“Even though Java may be at an inflexion point – and even though Oracle has made some changes to the JDKs and so on – I believe Java is still very relevant for business. I’m not a fan of rewriting everything and I think Java falls into that category, where capabilities like Quarkus give developers the ability to integrate better with OpenShift. Having those integrations and putting MCP in front of them will allow teams to participate in the AI  revolution. What we don’t want to see is Java atrophy at any level.”

Jemiah Sius, senior director for developer relations at New Relic, broadly agrees. He says that Java at 30 is like that “reliable friend” who showed up with write once, run anywhere and never left the party. “While trendy languages come and go, Java quietly powers everything from billion-dollar banking systems to the Android phone in your pocket. It’s aged better than most of us have while somehow maintaining backwards compatibility. That’s not bad for a technology older than most junior developers,” said Sius.

The Analyst Viewpoint

“We are in an era of agentic AI. There is an obvious question about what role Java will play. I see Java as the foundational layer that will operationalize the AI vision that many enterprises have. All the existing infrastructure in the form of integrations and code bases will be key in transitioning AI from research to enterprise-grade business use,” said Jay Kaza, a senior expert on AI and IT strategy at McKinsey and Company. 

Kaza says we should also talk about AI-written code, which is only expected to increase over time. “While AI can write great code in Python already, we tend to forget Java has the most open source and structured code repositories out there. We will see the gap drastically reduce over time. This means building new frontends in Java will only see higher adoption over time; more importantly, that will make it much cheaper and faster to build,” added Kaza.

VP of open source strategy and technology at Mirantis is Randy Bias. Talking about the three decades of Java we’ve just seen pass before us, he says that after 30 years the JVM still serves as a robust and adaptable platform, supporting not only Java but also a diverse array of languages like Kotlin, Scala and Groovy. 

“Kotlin, for instance, offers modern features and concise syntax while maintaining full interoperability with Java. The JVM’s design facilitates seamless integration of various languages, enabling developers to leverage the strengths of each within a proven runtime environment. This flexibility underscores the JVM’s enduring relevance in the evolving landscape of software development,” said Bias.

SUSE Says…

According to Vishal Ghariwala, CTO at SUSE, as Java celebrates its 30th anniversary, it’s crucial that we [developers and other industry practitioners] recognize its enduring significance. He underlines how Java’s deep integration with Linux has been pivotal in powering everything from high-scale data centers to distributed applications to cloud-native architectures. 

“Java’s portability, vast ecosystem and continuous modernization make it a cornerstone for building resilient and scalable systems. Java’s ongoing evolution, embracing cloud native patterns, performance enhancements and modern tooling, ensures its relevance in today’s distributed environments and future AI-driven workloads,” said Ghariwala, who reminds us that OpenJDK is also available as part of the SUSE Rancher Prime Application Collection, enabling platform engineers and Java developers safe, self-service access in Kubernetes environments.” 

“For SUSE, Java’s longevity, performance and roadmap built for the future align perfectly with our commitment to providing robust and reliable infrastructure solutions. SUSE Linux Enterprise Server continues to be a trusted backbone for Java deployments with strong support for the JDK. For instance, IBM Java and OpenJDK implementations are available and supported in SUSE Linux Enterprise Server. When developing newer cloud native applications, SUSE provides tested, certified and enterprise-ready container images for OpenJDK. These images are freely available, redistributable and supported across many different environments. We’ve witnessed Java’s role in shaping the open source movement and believe its future is still bright, especially in cloud, edge computing and beyond.”

Good Abstractions Outlast Hype

Satya Nitta, co-founder and CEO of Emergence AI is perhaps less platform-promotional than SUSE. He says that Java made “write once, run anywhere” more than just a slogan. “It was a mindset that quietly fueled the systems we stopped thinking about because they just worked. As we build self-directed agents and AI-native infrastructure, we’re still riffing on that same idea: code that moves, adapts and endures. Java taught us that good abstractions outlast hype – and that’s a lesson we’re carrying into the next era.” 

DevOps advocate leader at Atlassian, Sven Peters, is understandably affectionate about the Java platform and language.

“Java has been around for 30 years. Atlassian is just a few years younger, which means we grew up with Java. Both our co-founders were all-in on Java when they started Atlassian and, in fact, our first product Jira, was built to track Java development projects. Over the years, we have grown and matured through all iterations of the language and alongside the Java community. Today, millions of Java developers plan and track their work with apps from Atlassian that run on Java. Java still is and will continue to be an important backbone of our tools and tech stack and helps us unleash the potential of teams around the world.” 

Brian Fox, co-founder & CTO of Sonatype, says that Java helped bring open source into the enterprise mainstream, offering developers the promise of portability and performance at scale. He reminisces and says that from the early days of servlet containers to today’s microservices, Java has been a constant, even as paradigms have shifted. 

“Thirty years ago, I was compiling morning newspapers and saw a headline about a new programming language called Java. I distinctly remember pulling that story out of the paper so I could read it later, but I had no idea it would go on to be the programming language that would shape my career,” said Fox. “Helping build Maven and Maven Central meant creating a foundation for how Java developers consume and share software. We never imagined Maven Central would become one of the most critical components of the global software supply chain. Last year alone, Maven Central served 1.5 trillion Java components… and that number continues to rise. Open source and Java did not just grow up together –  Java was a key factor in the enterprise adoption of open source, and open source software is now an irreplaceable piece of modern applications.”

More On Maven

Jason van Zyl, senior engineering manager at Chainguard and creator of Apache Maven, reflects on his own three-decade journey in the Java ecosystem.

“I’m continually inspired by the community’s vibrancy and resilience. From the early days of Maven – born out of a need to streamline builds and manage dependencies – to today’s sophisticated development pipelines, the Java community has consistently demonstrated a remarkable capacity for collaboration and innovation. The Apache Software Foundation and the Eclipse Foundation have been instrumental in this evolution. Apache’s commitment to open governance has nurtured projects like Maven, while Eclipse has provided a robust platform for tooling and modularity. Their collective efforts have empowered developers worldwide, fostering a rich ecosystem of tools and frameworks that drive modern software development,” said van Zyl.

Although many might hold an alternative viewpoint, van Zyl thinks that, in recent years, Oracle’s stewardship of Java has been “commendable” no less. He forms this opinion as a result of the regular cadence of feature releases and the emphasis on performance and security that have kept Java at the forefront of enterprise and cloud-native applications. This proactive approach ensures that Java remains relevant and competitive in an ever-evolving technological landscape.

At Chainguard, van Zyl and the team say that they are “excited to contribute to this legacy” with the upcoming release of Chainguard Libraries for Java. Built securely from source within the company’s own SLSA-certified infrastructure, these libraries offer a standardized and secure source for Java dependencies, addressing the growing concerns around software supply chain security. By integrating seamlessly into existing workflows, the engineering team here aims to enhance Java (and other) developer productivity while safeguarding the integrity of software itself.

Perhaps the best takeaway from this reminiscing analysis is the suggestion that Java made “write once, run anywhere” more than just a slogan. Rather more than “where do you want to go today” (from Microsoft, obviously), then purity, meritocracy and honest advocacy of open source have hopefully underpinned its longevity.