2010 should be an exciting year for Java developers. 2009 had several events that the Java community will look to capitalize on.

  • Oracle buys Sun – This was the big one, but it’s still stuck in a bit of limbo.  Regulators from the European Union are blocking the deal, but signs appear to indicate that it will be worked out soon.  The major sticking point seems to be MySQL and the issues around how an Oracle acquisition affects the competitiveness of the database market.  Hopefully something gets finalized as Oracle appears to be the best Java steward available outside Sun itself.
  • Java 7 pushed back  – Due to JCP infighting, Java 7’s release date got pushed back. It’s been discussed to death, but apparently that opens the door to add closures to Java 7 as announced at this year’s Devoxx. The change was mostly welcome from the blogger community. In reality, it shouldn’t change the lives of most mainstream developers right away.  I’m sure there are several shops that are still living on 1.4, but Java 7 is something to watch as the milestones get released and people get familiar with the new features.
  • JEE 6 released – This is a fun item that I’ve been spending time with recently.  CDI, bean validation, JSF 2.0, and a whole host of other features look to simplify and improve the life for enterprise Java coders.  Sadly, it’ll take a bit of time for most shops to push new application servers into production.  However, the bleeding edge shops should gain some needed productivity traction through the use of a standards-based stack.
  • JVM languages rule – 2009 was the year of the JVM language.  From Scala to Clojure to Groovy, there was something for everyone and it’s a welcome change in my book.  Several of these languages have been around for years, but they are just now becoming accepted among the masses.  2010 will continue that trend.  I look forward to the days of hacking on some Scala and having my coworkers being able to help me out.

In short, 2010 is going to be a great time to be a Java developer.  The language is evolving, developers are improving their skills, the tools and IDEs are outstanding, and the work is interesting.  I’m looking forward to the challenges and opportunities that this year will bring.  Here’s to an awesome year, as a Java developer, in 2010!