Hire Java developers: Ten Reasons for Outsourcing Java Projects

Over recent years, Java development outsourcing has become a vital part of a lot of businesses of any size. We have previously discussed the benefits of such innovative technologies like Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning for the Finance, Banking, Retail, Manufacturing, and Food industries. Today we will take a different path. Instead of highlighting just another novel game-changer technology, we will take a closer look at Java – a programming language that has been around for decades and is currently used by around 8 million engineers worldwide.

In this article, we will review the benefits of the programming language, describe in detail how software engineers actually do coding in it, and provide some information on Java developers’ salaries in case you are looking to hire them. You will also learn about the pros and cons of forming a remote team and hiring Java development specialists for it. Building an efficient remote team is especially important during the Coronavirus pandemic, so you will definitely understand the basics of hiring the right experts after reading this article. Are you ready? Let’s get started!

“Truth can only be found in one place: the code.”
― Robert C. Martin

Introduction: who is a Java Developer?

For over 25 years, Java has been one of the most popular technologies in the world. According to recent research, currently, it is the second most popular programming language after Python, and also definitely one of the most favorite development technologies among experts. Java shares the top spots with HTML, CSS, Python, SQL, and JavaScript, with the latest release being dated March 22, 2022.

Why do programmers love this language so much? What are those developers who use this language supposed to know? How programming in Java can benefit your business?

We will answer all these questions in detail in our article!

First appearing on May 23, 1995, Java was created as an object-oriented and class-based programming language with the goal to have as few dependencies in implementation as possible. The language was designed as an embodiment of the “Write Once, Run Anywhere” (WORA) approach. In other words, Java code must run on any platform supporting Java without any recompilation.

Java is widely used for web, desktop, mobile, big data, government, and enterprise applications.

This language was at the forefront of early mobile game development and has many other accomplishments. Java has made a huge impact on the IT industry by bringing about the following changes:

• It has caused a wider adoption of object-oriented programming that has become common today.
• Applets, – web programs that provided interactive elements were first introduced in Java. These applets definitely paved the way for JavaScript, Flash, and HTML5.
• Test-driven development had become a common practice in various software development approaches. Java’s major contribution was the launch of JUnit in 2000.

Now, let’s find out what those developers who code in Java typically do and how you can determine and describe their level of qualifications.

The responsibilities of a Java Developer

Java Developers are the masterminds behind many IT solutions. They design and build software products from the ground up, recommending innovative solutions to improve user experience and the client’s business processes.

Java Developers’ roles and responsibilities vary depending on the level of the organization’s ownership, but typically they include activities related to creating or expanding business software applications. Java Developers may work on a specific programming task, or be part of a full-scale software development effort. These programmers are responsible for:

• Designing, developing, and maintaining Java applications.
• Analyzing software, testing results, and debugging efforts. This includes recommendations as to the improvement of the existing processes.
• Creating stipulations based on project requirements and finding production-related and other issues.

There are probably as many opinions on how to classify programmers as programmers themselves, but, hopefully, this description will be fair enough:

A Junior Java Developer’s role and responsibilities

Entry-level experts can’t work independently without continuous guidance. This kind of specialist has little-to-no knowledge of the business domain. Junior Developers can find even some of the basics of the programming language and the related set of tools challenging. Thus, they can’t take on much responsibility. Consequently, having too many Junior Programmers without proper supervision can become a problem. Anyone at the beginner’s stage could be considered “junior”.

A Medium Java Developer’s role and responsibilities

A mid-level expert must have a certain amount of coding experience. At this level, a specialist is expected to be able to work independently and deliver results for most tasks without much outside help. If any problems occur, the medium-level programmer must know what exactly they need and whom to ask for a solution.

A Senior Java Developer’s role and responsibilities

Senior Java developers have even more experience. They must be able to not only complete the tasks they are assigned to but also design solutions. They may lack an overall vision of the architecture, so their designs must be approved beforehand. They are able to mentor and even lead junior-level programmers.

Top 5 real-world applications: why does your business need Java Developers?

We are now clear on Java’s history, popularity, and the roles and responsibilities of Java Developers. Next, let’s figure out the practical value of this programming language and outsourced Java developers for businesses and organizations.

The best for building Android apps

In 2022, Java is still the most popular programming language for Android applications, making Java software engineers potential Android developers. In 2019, Google began to rely on Kotlin as the main language for Android, but presently the use of Java is still prevalent.

Software products

The resume of this programming language is impressive. It includes software products like Hadoop, Apache, Storm, Gmail, Atlassian, and many more. The potential for creating more great products is limitless because Java development is relatively easy: Java is overall very convenient for software outsourcing purposes. You can easily run it on different platforms and combine it with other programming languages. It is important to note that you can combine Java with other languages like Kotlin, Scala, and Groovy. The concept of the Java Virtual Machine (JVM) allows a Java developer to gainfully use multiple programming languages concurrently, leveraging various tech stacks for the best results.

Point-of-Sale (POS) systems

Java is great for building software for Point-of-Sale (POS) terminals in the Retail industry. The software for terminals usually runs on Android, and Java is one of the top programming languages to code in this OS. Additionally, thanks to the Write Once, Run Anywhere (WORA) concept it is easy to scale the system of terminals.

Applications for the Finance industry

Java has made a name for itself in the Finance industry, being the premier development language for building high-quality websites with reliable functionality. It is popular from both the server and client side angles.

Big Data programs

If you are looking to leverage Big Data, keep in mind that Kafka, Scala, and Spark use JVM. Since it has been used for a very long time, you will have access to a plethora of debuggers, libraries, and monitoring tools that have withstood the test of time.

The advantages of software development with Java for programmers

Object-oriented programming (OOP)

With object-oriented programming (OOP), your data can become an object, and a relationship between multiple objects can be created.

For businesses, this approach reduces the required time and resources because you can easily reuse objects in multiple different software products. These objects are readily available, due to which software development becomes more organized. Additionally, the software maintenance is quite simple, just like the possibility to update legacy code. The differences between Object-oriented programming and its alternative called Procedural programming, are as follows:

Simple syntax

Java is a high-level language that is similar to human language and relatively easy to interpret. This makes the development process less sophisticated and complicated. Java was built on the ideas of C++ but is much simpler, allowing Java experts to be faster learners in working toward their planned goals. The language is not as basic as Python, but any software engineer can progress fast — there are plenty of courses and learning materials available.

Automatic Memory Management (AMM)

Java has automated memory management (AMM)that takes over the memory allocation and deallocation. The garbage collector finds and removes any objects that are useless to the program. This reduces CPU usage and helps with optimization.

Multi-threading

Java enables multi-threading – running multiple processing units concurrently, which optimizes CPU usage too.

Write Once, Run Anywhere (WORA)

As mentioned earlier, this means that you could create a program, for example, on Linux, and leverage cross-platformity by running this program on any platform that supports the Java Virtual Machine.

Features that protect against common security threats

All programs out of the box run inside a JVM (Java Virtual Machine – an engine that provides a runtime environment and serves as the first security mechanism of Java. Additionally, this programming language doesn’t include any pointers — objects that store the memory address of another value and can thus become the reason for unauthorized memory access.

Besides, Java also has a security manager — a policy that allows you to specify the access rules for each application.

A large community of developers

One of the reasons that this language is still so popular is due to the fact that new versions with additional features are released regularly. Java had its online communities for decades, as well as hundreds of Java-related courses. A massive number of people are using Java now and planning to use it in the future. One can use a large number of readily available open-source libraries to facilitate the development process and make it a lot less time-consuming. It is relatively easier to build POCs for startups in Java, as compared with the other programming languages.

Standard for enterprises

Since the 1990s, enterprise apps have been one of the main focuses of Java programming. The number of well-tested libraries is astonishing. Those libraries are the building blocks for the fundamental functions of any organization. The relatively inexpensive maintenance is another reason why organizations have preferred Java for so long.

Rapid evolution

Since 2017, Java has received new stable releases twice a year. As of September 2020, the current version is SE 15. Previously, Oracle Corporation released new versions of Java once every four or five years, but now they introduce new versions more frequently. The growing popularity of Java had become obvious, and the language needed these frequent updates with new features to further evolve and support its rapidly growing community.

Outsourcing vs. In-House: which is better for your business?

The best choice for your business depends on your goals and priorities. In this quick overview, we would like to focus on the fortes of both approaches to find out which is a better fit in your case. With a clear budget, deadline, and project scope, it will be relatively easier to make a decision, considering the information presented below.

An in-house team is the best choice if face-to-face meetings are really important for your project. With your project team located on your premises, you can receive quick feedback, control your experts, and coordinate their work. You can forget about the language barriers or cultural differences — the ease of communication and the ability to change direction are the main advantages here.

Outsourcing your software to an offshore software development team gives you an edge in scalability and access to the intellectual capabilities of the development talent regardless of your geography. Partnering with an outsourcing firm can give you access to precisely the kind of experts that you actually need for the job.

Furthermore, with an in-house team, you must always make sure that your workforce has a sufficient workload to stay cost-efficient. In the case of a software outsourcing arrangement, you hire people for specific objectives for a specific period of time. An outsourced team is much less expensive because you skip the recruitment process, training, and even the interviews, aimed to help you find the appropriate candidates. Your experts keep their jobs based on their performance and not any other commitment you have towards them. The time-to-market is much faster due to the performance-based approach. Most importantly, the pool of available experts is basically limitless, as compared with an in-house team.

If you choose to create a project team on your premises, all the details on hiring the right people you would need to know could be enough for a bunch of articles. But in the case of outsourcing that seems like the best option for your goals, we will delve deep into the details to help you hire the right remote Java Developers.

How much does it cost to hire Java Developers?

Last year, there were nearly 8 million Java developers in the world working with 90% of Fortune 500 companies.

Switzerland has the highest average annual salary for developers working with this programming language — $93,925 before taxes. Java developers’ annual average salary in the United States constitutes $74,190, while in Israel it equals $69,007.

PayScale has researched the Java developer salaries taking into account the level of expertise, and here is what the top of the list looks like:

Salaries of Java Developers

So, a Junior Developer’s annual salary is around $63,000 on average. A Mid-Level Java Developer could expect $75,000 on average. Senior-level experts could expect around $122,000 a year.

Hiring a Java developer in the United States may cost you around $96,000 per year, taxes included. In Germany, the same expert may cost you around $80,000, and in the United Kingdom, it could average $60,000.

Thus, it makes sense to look for software engineers in Eastern Europe. Ukraine is one of the countries with some of the best Java developers with over 8,000 programmers working on real-life projects. Although the interest in Java is ever on the rise, the price for hiring a Java expert from this country averages $30,000 per year!

Ukraine is home to a total of 200,000 software engineers in, and more than half of them are ready to work 40-60 hours per week. The country is a great choice for hiring Java developers if you are interested in outsourcing your tasks and software outsourcing as such fits your business goals.

Here are the average monthly rates of Java programmers in 2021:

How to hire Java developers? A few things you need to bear in mind

The following tips can help you with hiring a Java developer or an entire team of experts.

Choose the best cooperation model for outsourced Java development

If you have technical skills and require experts for specific goals, hiring Java developers as freelancers could be the easiest and most effective option. However, if you have a long-term project with a scope that might change in the future, partnering with an outsourcing company can be a better option.

One of the most important parts of partnering with another company is choosing a suitable engagement model. Learn more about such models, such as Extended Team, Dedicated Team, and Managed Product to determine how you can benefit. In a nutshell, the right cooperation model can spare you the hassle of hiring experts and managing the development process, while letting you focus on the business aspects.

Partner up with the right company for Java development outsourcing

If you are considering working with a software development company, make sure to check its track record on outsourced Java projects. Some case studies on long-lasting projects might be a sign that your potential partnership will deliver good results. The knowledge and experience in your specific industry will be a big plus. Please don’t rush into choosing a partner. As we have discussed earlier, there are plenty of options, so take your time to find a perfect match!

Be specific in your requirements

Ensure that your recruitment team is not using some generic Java Developer job descriptions that don’t say anything about the actual job.

Your candidates must have the specific set of technical skills and soft skills required for the job. Highlight the key technologies in your stack and your business domain. This can narrow down the number of candidates and help you find the right people more quickly.

Java as a programming language is very versatile. It covers a wide range of areas in web development and mobile application development. You, or your technical team, need to understand what the JSF, Strut, Grails, Play, Spring, and Maven frameworks are, and which of them you require for your outsourced Java project. There is a chance that you will find an expert who does not have the skills in the required tech stack. After your requirements are defined, make sure that the actual interview includes questions about the development skills, tools, and key strengths (for example, the candidate’s experience with wireframes, user experience design, or their knowledge of APIs).

Get motivated experts

On the other hand, you need to understand the motivation of your potential candidates. You must understand what exactly drives experts to be a part of your company. Is it a good salary or an interesting project? Or maybe it is an opportunity for potential growth? Clearly understanding your employees’ motivation can help you keep them on the team even in the most challenging of situations.

Your outsource java developers need to have a fine-tuned process

Motivation is a good thing and a significant factor for the success of any team. However, the experts you add to your team must understand the product development process. If we’re talking about hiring Java developers in a dedicated development team, the complete understanding of Agile principles and its practical implementation of Scrum is mandatory for maximal efficiency. Of course, they can use some other process, like Waterfall. But based on our experience, the Agile/Scrum combination is the best for most of the projects. Java development outsourcing is not an exception. In case the development team you hire is not adhering to the principles of Agile, you will probably need to spend some time coaching them; otherwise, you may not get the best results due to the chaotic process.

Busting the most common myths about Java Programming

This programming language is outdated

It can’t be further from the truth. Yes, the language has had a long run and many new technologies have come into being over the years. However, Java has gained a wide range of applications across multiple industries and became the foundation block for several new-age programming languages. With new versions appearing regularly, Java is going to stay on top for a long time.

It is a slow programming language

Well, it was slow, during its early stages. Back then Java was frequently compared with C++. Nowadays, it is considered to be a high-performing language that has long left delays in the past.

The introduction of the Java Virtual Machine (JVM) became a real game-changer, turning Java from just one of the programming languages into an awesome multifunctional tool. Take Apache Kafka, for example. It is one of the top platforms for high-speed stream processing, and it runs on Java Virtual Machine. Not bad for a “slow” programming language, right? The JVM has a variety of implementations. Some of them aim to improve the throughput and lower the latency, like, for instance, GraalVM.

Although there is some truth to the slow language myth, Java in its own right is not the problem. The lack of speed may well be the fallout of working with poorly written or outdated applications. By using Java, developers can create almost any software app that will work, but that does not mean they’ve done a brilliant job and it is performing efficiently. In those cases, the actual code is the problem, not the tool!

It is expensive

This myth dates back to 2019 when Oracle changed the licensing model, and now you have to buy a subscription when using Oracle Java in production. The subscription gives you access to premium support. What if you don’t need it? There is also an option to switch to another version of the Java Development Kit from Oracle, called OpenJDK. OpenJDK is completely free. You can find many other stable and free-of-charge implementations of JDK that will provide you with the same functionality as Oracle JDK. To sum it up, this myth holds no weight. If you don’t need premium support, Java can be a completely free programming language for your project.

It is buggy and lacks security

Just like with the slow language myth, the actual code can be the reason for the product’s bugginess and security issues. You don’t have to look too far to find trustworthy case studies of Java-based projects with a high-security level.

Take a look at the solutions the Banking and Finance industries use, such as, for instance, complex payment processing systems, digital signature functionality, or ATM software. Additionally, Java supports things like cryptography, Secure Sockets Layer, authorization, and authentication, to name but a few. That means developers have a good set of secure tools for building projects.

Any codebase can contain some bugs, and the Java Development Kit is no exception. However, frequent and regular updates provide fixes to all the critical issues. You need to have the latest version of Java Runtime Environment on your machine. When the application runs from a server and the maintainer uses the old JRE version, you can experience some bugs. The application may be vulnerable to a certain degree. But overall, Java is a very stable and secure programming language that doesn’t deserve the label of being less secure than the other programming languages.

It is too complicated for programmers

Some people consider Java to be more complicated for coders as compared with JavaScript, Python, or Ruby. Perhaps, that was true before 2014, but in 2021 it is much easier to get started with the language. A Java developer can start creating a Spring Boot application within seconds with start.spring.io. All the necessary tools are included in this single download.

Our expertise in Java Development

SPD Group has been offering Java development services to businesses worldwide since 2006.

Currently, we have onboard more than 200 experts who are proficient in Java as well as in some other technologies. Furthermore, more than 70 of them are Oracle-Certified top Java Developers, this number being continuously on the rise. The projects our Java software engineers are working on include those for businesses in the Finance, FinTech, E-Commerce, Biotech, Travelling, and Logistics industries.

While developing a product for a leading financial data and SaaS provider, SPD Group leveraged its Java development expertise to scale both the client’s organizational and development processes. This was necessary to move the entire organization from a monolithic solution to a microservice-based architecture.

Switching to microservices allowed each team to be responsible for a specific component (or service) within the organization, while also eliminating the disadvantage of having a single code repository.

Java offers a great infrastructure for developing microservice architecture. In this particular case, we incorporated microservices into the financial data provider’s ecosystem by using frameworks such as Spring and gRPC. As a result, currently, the financial data provider has multiple sub-teams that are working on different business goals separately. SPD Group’s project team continues to splitting a monolith into smaller parts of functionality for better overall performance.

Java played a pivotal role in the project and included the following:

• As the number of microservices was increased, Java’s support and integration of Open API contracts dramatically simplified the communication between them.
• Using Java enabled the implementation of a load search system for locating information across a dozen data sources based on hundreds of criteria. The developed search functionality had a response time of up to 100 milliseconds. The search system also included the ability to sort, filter, and analyze the retrieved information.
• Using Java helped our developers easily implement a mini version of the file-based, key-value storage, optimized for project-specific read-write operations.

While implementing this, as well as some other Java projects, we had teams in different countries. Thanks to our use of Java, these collaborations were highly efficient, with all the key decisions being made quickly and consistently.

To improve the work of our distributed Java development teams even further, we use Metucat, an Integrated Framework for developing, maintaining, and evolving data-centric applications. Metucat drives and controls application development using visual metadata, where the architecture becomes an organic part of the system.

This framework improves the quality of a product, communication between team members, scaling, and provides a comprehensive insight into available datasets. Most importantly for Java developers, Metucat allows distributed teams to work on different parts of the product independently.

Conclusion

Despite being a long-standing technology, Java is currently experiencing an upsurge in popularity and has limitless potential for the future. In 2020, the number of Java Developers increased by 20% as compared to 2019 and there are many good reasons for that. Developers are opting for this technology because new versions are released on a regular basis, providing all the features that are necessary to handle modern development tasks. Technology has some drawbacks, but all of them can be solved.

Probably, the principal advantage of Java for enterprises is that this programming language enables efficient collaboration among remote teams. That is why businesses should consider hiring Java Programmers for development tasks in the current situation. Nobody knows when things return to normal after the current global pandemic, so there is a high expectation that more businesses will switch to remote work in the near future. Your business can benefit from cooperation with development teams in other countries. Consider SPD Group as a trusted partner that can help you bring your vision to life!

Summary

Further Reading

1. Java Developer Roles and Responsibilities – https://www.bmc.com/blogs/java-developer-roles-and-responsibilities/
2. Where to Hire Top Java Developers: a Comprehensive How-To Guide – https://youteam.io/blog/hire-java-developers-comprehensive-guide/
3. 10 Free Java Programing Books for beginners – https://www.java67.com/2013/11/10-free-java-programing-books-download-PDF-HTML.html
4. Java Introduction – https://www.w3schools.com/java/java_intro.asp