How to Build Java Applications Today: #59
Tags: java, bpf
Published: 2022-01-05 14:38:02

## TL;DR

News is back, Release Radar & Editorial are new, Technology Index is updated. Read my editorial: Log4Shell Shows The Need for "Trustworthy Java".


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## README

Welcome to my newsletter “How To Build Java Applications Today”! If you like it, then [subscribe to it on Substack](https://bpfnl.substack.com)! Or read it on [dev.to](https://dev.to/ksilz/series/11995) or [Medium](https://ksilz.medium.com). Even better: Share it with people who may be interested.

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## Next Issue: Wednesday, February 2, 2022

My newsletter is published on the first Wednesday of every month.

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## Stand-Up
Are you still Log4Shell-shocked? Too soon? My last newsletter issue appeared on December 7, 2021, just two days before Log4Shell got disclosed. Feels like an eternity ago, doesn't it? Well, I had to write about Log4Shell as well - see below.

When I thought I got the hang of my new monthly cadence, I made many changes again. As promised last month, I have a new section in my newsletter. Not one but **three**: News are back in "New & Noteworthy", the "Release Radar" lists essential releases, and the "Editorial" is my monthly opinion piece. This month, there can be only one topic for the editorial. So please read it: Log4Shell Shows The Need for "Trustworthy Java".

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Interested? Then check out my resume & work samples!

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## New & Noteworthy

This new section has the most important news for Java developers from last month - in my opinion, at least.

Critical Log4j Vulnerability Log4Shell with Zero-Day Exploits, Garbage Collection Improvements from JDK 8 to JDK 17, Red Hat Reluctant on Proposed 2-Year Java LTS Cadence, JetBrains IDEs Get Remote Development, JetBrains Clones Visual Studio Code - But At What Price, An Oral History of Stack Overflow – Told By its Founding Team, and Benedict Evans' Annual Tech Presentation. 

**[Read New & Noteworthy](https://betterprojectsfaster.com/guide/java-full-stack-report-2022-01-new-noteworthy/)**

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## Technology Index 

What do we need to build a Java application today? A JVM language, a database, a back-end framework, a web framework, and - if we want to get fancy - a mobile app framework. So my index recommends technologies in these five areas, based on popularity, industry analysis, and my 23 years of Java experience.

**Why** am I measuring popularity?

Picking a popular technology makes our developer life easier: Easier to learn, easier to build, debug & deploy, easier to hire, and easier to convince teammates & bosses. Popularity can make a difference in two situations: When multiple technologies score the same, you could go for the most popular one. And when a technology is very unpopular, we may not use it.

**How** am I measuring popularity?

I measure popularity by systematically observing what **millions** of developers do: Google searches to measure interest, Udemy course buyers to measure learning, Stack Overflow questions to measure learning & application of technologies, and mentions in Indeed job ads to measure the demand for technologies.

So what's **changed** over the [index from December](https://betterprojectsfaster.com/guide/java-full-stack-index-2021-12/)?

- I **updated** all charts for all technologies with the latest numbers. I collected the data from December 28-31, 2021.
- All technologies now compare the numbers of Udemy students and job ad mentions against a previous month. This **hints at trends**, but these trends need more time to become visible.

**[Read the Technology Index](https://betterprojectsfaster.com/guide/java-full-stack-report-2022-01-index/)**

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## Release Radar

This new section has the current releases of essential tools & technologies for Java developers. I shamelessly stole the name from [GitHub](https://github.blog/2021-12-03-release-radar-nov-2021/) because I’m an aspiring allegorist. 😌

Last month saw new releases for Gradle, Spring Boot, Quarkus, DropWizard, IntelliJ, and Eclipse.

**[Read the Release Radar](https://betterprojectsfaster.com/guide/java-full-stack-report-2022-01-release-radar/)**

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## Editorial

This new section is my opinion on an important topic of the month.

I believe Log4Shell is Java’s biggest crisis ever. How did we handle Log4Shell? And how can we prevent another Log4Shell? My answers are in this month’s editorial: Log4Shell Shows The Need for "Trustworthy Java".

**[Read the Editorial](https://betterprojectsfaster.com/guide/java-full-stack-report-2022-01-editorial/)**

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## About

Karsten Silz is the author of this newsletter. He is a full-stack web & mobile developer with 23 years of Java experience, author, speaker, and marathon runner. Karsten got a Master's degree in Computer Science at the Dresden University of Technology (Germany) in 1996.

Karsten has worked in Europe and the US. He co-founded a software start-up in the US in 2004. Karsten led product development for 13 years and left after the company was sold successfully. He co-founded the UK SaaS start-up "[Your Home in Good Hands](https://yourhomeingoodhands.co.uk/)" as CTO in 2020. Since 2019, Karsten also works as a contractor in the UK.

Karsten has [this newsletter](https://bpfnl.substack.com/), a [developer website](https://betterprojectsfaster.com/), and a [contractor site](https://ksilz.com/). He's on [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/ksilz/), [Twitter](https://twitter.com/karsilz), and [GitHub](https://github.com/ksilz). Karsten is also an [author at InfoQ](https://www.infoq.com/profile/Karsten-Silz).