Everything You Need to Know About the State of Enterprise Java Development Environments

There's a reason that businesses of all sizes rely on Java for their mission-critical business applications, and have since the creation of the language three decades ago. Java is a stable, versatile development language with a robust ecosystem behind it. Increasingly, developers are using remote or cloud development environments, multiple IDEs, etc. But that comes with increased complexity, especially for larger businesses. 

That increased complexity can create barriers to innovating and accelerating time to market — differentiators that can help your business get ahead. In this blog, we'll cover what's contributing to the complexity in enterprise Java development environments and how Java tools can help. Read on to learn:

Overcoming Development Challenges in Enterprise Java Environments

Want to learn more about the state of enterprise Java development environments in 2025 — and how the right toolsets can ease the complexity? Our Java experts wrote a white paper on that very topic. Download your free copy today. 

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The State of Enterprise Java Development

Java development environments are more complex than ever, and doubly so for large businesses. But what's contributing to the complexity?

Cloud and Remote Development Environments

73% of enterprise Java developers are using remote, containerized, or cloud-based development environments, but 54% of enterprise Java developers say that redeploys for remote development environments take 5 minutes or more. While cloud environments offer flexibility, they can also create barriers to productivity.    

Microservices

At an architectural level, enterprise Java teams are continuing to lean into microservices-based architectures. Unfortunately for many teams, the move to microservices hasn't resulted in decreased complexity or significantly faster redeploys.  

Multiple IDEs

47% of enterprise Java developers use more than one IDE in their day-to-day workflows. This can pose some advantages, like using an alternate IDE that excels at debugging (like VS Code), but can add to the overall complexity of enterprise Java development environments.  

2025 Data on the Java Tech Stack

Want more data points like these? Download your free copy of the 2025 Java Developer Productivity Report today. 

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Focusing on Developer Experience Can Help

Developer experience is the practice of eliminating friction in a developer’s workflow. This can take many forms, from implementing productivity teams to investigate and implement tools, to offering developers freedom to construct their individual development environments in the way they see fit.  

Focusing on developer experience can help enterprises overcome the complexity of their development environments. While it may not seem like developer experience contributes to your business's bottom line, happier developers write better code. And getting more nuanced, developers who have the freedom to customize their development environments and eliminate barriers will produce higher quality code more quickly. 

That could mean faster development sprints, improving testing, and going to market faster — all advantages for your business. 

Investing in Developer Tools Can Help Your Business

But it's not enough to just arm your enterprise Java developers with a chest full of tools; they have to be the right tools. 

Enterprise developers and leaders value robust, enterprise-grade development tools — and data from the 2025 Java Developer Productivity Report backs that claim. When asked what AI tools they turned to, 52% selected GitHub CoPilot, whereas respondents from smaller companies favored ChatGPT.

Enterprises need stable, supported, and secure tools, no matter what their function is. Many free tools available are not up to the task when mission-critical business applications are involved. While investing in development tools for your enterprise Java development team can involve a cash outlay, the ROI can be far greater.

📺Watch this recorded webinar with CTO Rod Cope on improving developer experience. 

Final Thoughts

Enterprise Java development environments are more complex than ever, but team leaders play a critical role in setting their Java development teams up for success. By focusing on developer experience and arming your team with the right Java development tools, your developers can overcome increasingly complex enterprise Java development environments. 

Get Started Testing Java Tools

Take the next step toward improving Java development productivity today. With JRebel, your enterprise team can eliminate redeploys to visualize code changes instantly — and save upwards of a month of development time annually! See for yourself during your 14-day free trial. 

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