The latest report from Perforce, a leading provider of Java development and devops tools, has shed light on the current state of Java development trends. The 2025 Java Developer Productivity Report, published on March 4, reveals a significant shift towards the adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Java development, while hiring plans for Java developers have slowed down.

According to the report, only 51% of Java shops surveyed plan to add more Java developers in the coming year, a decline from 60% in 2024. This slowdown in hiring plans is accompanied by a decrease in the number of respondents planning to increase their Java tool budget, from 42% in 2024 to 34% in 2025. These findings suggest that Java development teams may be facing resource constraints, which could impact their ability to innovate and stay competitive.

On the other hand, the report highlights a remarkable surge in the adoption of AI tools for Java development. A staggering 88% of respondents use AI tools, with 52% relying on ChatGPT and 42% using GitHub Copilot. IDE-integrated AI tools trail behind, with only 25% of respondents using them. The most popular use cases for AI tools include code completion (60%), refactoring (39%), error detection (30%), and documentation generation (28%).

The report also provides valuable insights into the Java ecosystem. The majority of respondents (61%) use Java 17, followed by Java 21 (45%), Java 8 (35%), and Java 11 (32%). However, a significant 72% of respondents still use Oracle distributions that are no longer supported, including Java 11 and Java 8. This could pose security risks and highlight the need for Java developers to migrate to newer, supported versions.

In terms of primary JRE/JDK distribution, Oracle leads the way at 42%, followed by OpenJDK at 35%, AdoptOpenJDK/Adoptium at 24%, Amazon Corretto at 23%, and Azul Zulu at 12%. JetBrains IntelliJ remains the most popular Java IDE, used by 84% of respondents, followed by Visual Studio Code at 31% and Eclipse at 28%. Notably, Eclipse's popularity has declined from 39% in the previous year.

The Perforce report provides a comprehensive snapshot of the Java development landscape. The increased adoption of AI tools and the slowdown in hiring plans for Java developers suggest that the industry is undergoing a significant transformation. As Java development teams navigate these changes, they must prioritize innovation, efficiency, and security to stay ahead of the curve.

The full report can be accessed on Perforce's website, providing valuable insights for Java developers, team leads, managers, and executives looking to optimize their development workflows and stay up-to-date with the latest trends and technologies.