Java

Java runs half the enterprise world and that inertia is its strongest argument. The JVM is mature, the ecosystem is vast, and the hiring pool is deep. Modern Java (17+) with records, sealed classes, and pattern matching has improved, but the language remains verbose compared to every modern alternative.

Startup time, memory consumption, and build tooling are the practical pain points. A Spring Boot application takes seconds to start and hundreds of megabytes to run. A Bun service starts in milliseconds and uses a fraction of the memory. For existing Java codebases with invested teams, the language works. For new projects, the overhead isn't justified.