Java developers, as the title suggests, work mostly with Java to design and build applications and websites that have dynamic elements. Some work on applications, other work on websites, but most Java developers are present from the conception of a project to the completion.

To become a Java developer, you will first need a bachelor’s degree in computer science, software engineering, or a related field. You will also need a background in computer programming, even though the main role of a Java developer is not writing code, you will still need to be familiar with code.

After you have put in all the effort necessary to equip yourself as a Java coder, you may be wondering how much you will earn. Read on for more information on that and many more.

• What is the Average Salary of a Java Programmer?
• Do Coders make good Money?
• How much do Coders make an hour?
• Does Java have a future?
• Is Java Developer job Difficult?
• What are you looking for in a Java developer?
• Are Coders in Demand?
• Do Coders work from Home?
• What is the Highest-Paid Coding Job?

What is the Average Salary of a Java Programmer?

According to PayScale, the average salary for a Java developer is $69,722 per year, with an average salary range of $47,169 to $106,610 per year. The highest-paid Java developers are in San Francisco and Arlington, where the average reported yearly salaries are $97,000 per year.

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Once you get further in your career as a Java developer and move onto a senior role, you can earn an average yearly salary of  $95,787, with a reported salary range of $70,257 to $139,132 per year. The highest paid senior Java developers are in Washington, Seattle, and San Francisco, where the average reported yearly salaries are $124,000; $122,000; and $120,000; respectively.

J2EE

J2EE, from Sun, is a Java-centric tool that allows users to develop, build, and deploy enterprise applications for the web. It uses Java as its core language and allows developers to create enterprise applications that can be accessed through the web to help improve efficiency and productivity within a company.

According to PayScale, Java developers with J2EE skills can earn an average salary of $78,346, with a reported salary range of $52,075 to $104,806 per year.

Spring

Spring is an open source application framework that uses Java as a platform and can be used by any Java application. It has grown in popularity in the Java community and is becoming a commodity for job seekers.

According to PayScale, Java developers with Spring skills can earn an average salary of $73,814 per year, with a reported salary range of $53,733 to $104,798 per year.

Oracle

Oracle Database is an object-relational database management system that allows companies to store and manage data on a large network. It’s key to information management and is a cornerstone for companies that manage massive amounts of information.

According to PayScale, Java developers with Oracle skills can earn an average salary of $69,905 per year, with a reported salary range of $47,409 to $117,227 per year.

C++

C++ is a well-known programming language that allows for object-oriented and generic programming features. It’s commonly used when developing desktop applications, on servers, video games, performance critical applications, and entertainment software.

According to PayScale, C++ skills are generally associated with a higher pay for senior Java developers. The average salary for senior Java developers with C++ skills is $127,396 per year.

C#

C# is an object-oriented programming language from Microsoft consisting of both C and C++ and is most commonly used with XML-based web services on the .NET platform. The main goal of C# is to improve productivity when developing Web applications with features such as type-safety, garbage collection, simplified type declarations, versioning and scalability support, which are all intended to make developing applications faster and easier.

According to PayScale, C++ skills are generally associated with higher pay for senior Java developers. The average salary for senior Java developers with C# skills is $110,155 per year.

Do Coders make good Money?

Given all the hype around the technology, coding bootcamps, and the huge fortunes amassed by software developers like Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg, it can be difficult to get a sober perspective on what your own computer programming salary prospects are likely to be. 

Facing the prospect of hardcore studying and a drastic career change, you’re probably curious as to what a computer programming salary will be. While coding is as intellectually stimulating as music, learning foreign languages, or chess, most people aren’t willing to throw themselves into their learning unless it leads to better economic prospects. So what do computer programmers make?

The very short answer is that coders do tend to get paid pretty well, but their ultimate earning potential is influenced by a variety of factors. 

It Depends a Lot on Your Experience 

As with bricklaying and basket weaving, you tend to get a better coding job salary the better you are at coding, and by far the best way to get better is to work at it for a long time. Another effect on a computer programmer’s salary is the number of programming languages they know.

The average salary for a developer with less than a year of experience is a little over $50,000/year in the United States. This isn’t riches, but it’s pretty good compared to most other entry-level positions. 

It’s hard to say what experienced developers make because it can vary widely, with the people who build frameworks like Ruby on Rails pulling down millions of dollars. But on average, a ‘late-career’ developer with many years of experience can expect to earn $85,000–more than enough to live comfortably. 

Your Pay Will Change Based on Your Specialization

The term ‘computer programmer’ can refer to many different careers, and what a person specializes in will impact their pay. While ‘data science’ isn’t exactly the same thing as coding, the two do overlap quite a bit. The average salary for an entry-level data scientist is $85,000, tied with the average of a late-career developer. A machine learning engineer just starting out can expect to gross approximately $90,000. 

Cybersecurity engineers tend to earn just a little bit more ($95,000), and network engineers a little less ($72,000). Web developers earn an average of $60,000.

One of the exciting things about becoming a programmer is that there’s not much of a ceiling on your potential earnings. If you can learn to build algorithms that successfully trade the stock market, you can basically write your own ticket. 

Ultimately, a lot goes into determining how much you’ll be paid as a computer coder. But if you work hard at it and constantly widen your knowledge, there’s almost no limit to what you could be earning.

How much do Coders make an hour?

Coding is a vital skill that is needed in almost everything we do. So, how much can coders expect to earn for their knowledge? The average salary of a coder depends on a lot of factors, such as their years of experience and what type of coding they decide to work with. These are the top coding jobs and their respective hourly rates: 

• Computer Programmer – $40.52 per hour 
• Full Stack Developer – $36.20 per hour
• Data Scientist – $35.84 per hour 
• Software Engineers – $34.62 per hour  
• Web Developer – $20.41 per hour

These are just five of the many prominent jobs that you might come across as a coder. It’s important to reiterate that the above figures are just averages, and actual hourly wages can fluctuate greatly based on experience and your potential employer. 

Does Java have future?

A lot of confusion has arise concerning the future of Java, and some experts have shared their opinion on the subject. However, below are some reasons why Java might be around for years to come.

1. Java Can Do Everything

The Java programming language has not been the leader for more than a decade now by chance. Indeed, Java really allows you to do everything in the world of computing.

JavaFX is a more modern solution for developing graphical interfaces. Since Java 11, JavaFX has been developed by the OpenJFX community, which does a great job.

The Jakarta EE specification, formerly known as Java EE, allows the development of complete web applications (Internet or Intranet). This specification provides a complete stack that allows developers to architect their applications in the best possible way. All this explains why Jakarta EE is so popular in companies.

In the world of cloud computing, leading service providers such as Amazon, Google, and Microsoft all support Java programming language for application development.

Of course, Java remains present in the embedded system with the Java Card solution. The Internet of Things (IoT) is set to grow exponentially in the future with the deployment of 5G around the world. Here again, Java is there because it is widely used in this promising field.

Finally, if it is not necessarily the preferred solution in data science or in the world of machine learning, Java also has its followers in these domains.

2. Java Is Easy To Learn

Learning to program is never easy. If this is your case, you will need to have a strong will to achieve it. Nevertheless, as you learn, you will realize that all your efforts are really worth it.

Many tutorials are available but also a large number of forums where you can ask questions when you get stuck in your learning.

Then, from a technical point of view, Java is ideal because it is an imperative language but also object-oriented. These two paradigms are the most common in companies but also the easiest to master for beginners.

Finally, if you are an experienced developer with other object-oriented languages, you will quickly become comfortable with Java, which offers a rich and intuitive API with very high-quality documentation.

3. Java Is Widely Used In Companies

In the world of computer programming, several methodologies are used to measure the popularity of a programming language. Among the existing methodologies, the TIOBE index is frequently used as a reference.

The popularity of the Java language is found in companies where it is widely dominant. In the universities where it is de facto very often taught to students. Finally, novice developers are becoming more and more interested in it as they embark on the development of Android applications in their spare time.

The fact that Java is so widespread makes it an excellent choice because once you master it, you will be able to apply for many Java developer positions in companies or try to get freelance Java development assignments.

4. Java Has A Strong Community

The Java community is one of the most important in the world of computer programming. This is quite logical since Java is an ultra-popular and open-source language.

This abundance of open source projects written in Java will give you a wide choice of code libraries when you face issues.

As we explained earlier, this strong community is also a great asset when you encounter problems developing programs in Java. Indeed, someone will probably have already encountered your problem and you will save valuable time by consulting the solution they have used.

Finally, this strong community allows Java developers to have at their disposal a whole bunch of excellent tools for free, such as IDEs (Eclipse, IntelliJ IDEA,…), dependency managers (Maven, Gradle, Ant,…) or application servers (Tomcat, TomEE, WildFly, Jetty, …).

5. Java Is Free

In 2018, Oracle announced in a somewhat confusing way that the JDK would now be charged for professional uses in production. Obviously, the confusion has led some to argue that Java has become a paid service!

In reality, Oracle now distributes two builds of the JDK:

• Oracle JDK
• Oracle OpenJDK

Oracle JDK is a free development and testing environment but you have to pay to use it in production. It comes with long-term support from Oracle. On the other hand, Oracle OpenJDK is free for any environment.

Thus, Java remains free as long as you use Oracle OpenJDK. In addition, there are other implementations of the JDK that you can choose to use, which ensures that Java is free in the long term. For example, you can use the JDK builds proposed by the AdoptOpenJDK community. More recently, Amazon has just made its own JDK builds available under the name Amazon Corretto with completely free long-term support.

The fact that Java is free and especially that it will remain so in the future is a strong point in his favor.

6. Java Is The Cobol Of The 21st Century

The Cobol language was created in 1959. While he has just celebrated his 60th birthday, Cobol is still very popular in banks and insurance companies.

More than 60 years after its creation, Cobol is still present in companies and allows developers to earn comfortable salaries to maintain all the applications created over the past decades.

We draw a parallel with the Cobol to show you that Java will still be a widely used solution in companies in 2050 and surely even in 2100. In fact, the need for developers to maintain the very large number of Java applications deployed will always be enormous.

7. Java Is Also An Execution Platform With the JVM

Java is an ultra-popular programming language. However, Java is much more than that. Indeed, Java is also a complete execution platform with its virtual machine, the famous JVM (Java Virtual Machine).

Once you have learned the Java programming language, a new world will open up for you: the world of programming languages running on the JVM.

Kotlin, Scala or Groovy are the popular ones, but there are others. Each of these languages has been launched to fill some of the gaps in Java in specific areas. When it was created, Scala aimed to make functional programming accessible on the JVM for example.

These open-source languages running on the JVM can therefore be considered as fields of experimentation that Java architects then use to improve the language. Kotlin also has a bright future ahead of it since Google chose it to be the second official programming language for the Android operating system.

8. Java Is Very Fast

By learning the Java programming language in 2020, you will enter the world of JVM. This world is very fast. Don’t listen to those who still claim that Java is slow compared to compiled languages like C and C++.

This myth is based on some truth since the first versions of Java were indeed slower than compiled languages such as C or C++. In order to keep its promise “Write Once, Run anywhere”, the Java platform had to make some concessions and its virtual machine, the famous JVM, added a layer of software. In fact, performance could suffer in some specific cases.

In addition to this problem of the additional software layer, some implementations of the JVM were really slow in the beginning.

In addition, hardware has progressed so much since the early years of Java that the addition of an additional software layer, such as JVM, has no real impact on performance for the vast majority of enterprise applications.

Finally, the JVM Just-In-Time (JIT) compiler is a pure marvel that greatly improves the performance of Java applications. The level of performance achieved by the JVM is such today that it serves as an execution platform for a large number of Kotlin, Groovy and Scala languages. So, we are no longer only talking about the Java language but also about the Java ecosystem.

9. Java Is Evolving Fast

During the end of Sun Microsystems’ reign as head of the JDK, Java’s evolutions tended to slow down significantly. Oracle’s early years at the helm of Java were no better. Thus, it took 11 years between Java 6 and Java 9!

This new lifecycle guarantees a major new version of Java every 6 months with new features experienced faster thanks to the following both statuses : preview and incubator.

Since the release of Java 9 in September 2017, Oracle has kept up this pace, which allows Java to evolve faster and respond more quickly to developers’ expectations.

10. Java Has A Rich Standard API

The JDK offered with the Java programming language provides developers with an extremely rich standard API. Thus, you will be able to create graphical interfaces for the desktop with Swing or AWT, do multithreaded programming, manage inputs/outputs operations, perform network operations, access databases or even manipulate time without the need for external code libraries.

With Java, you can touch all the fundamentals of computer programming directly without having to manage a whole bunch of dependencies.

Of course, you will need to integrate external code libraries when developing more complex applications afterward. Nevertheless, for your learning of the Java language, the standard API will be more than enough.

Is Java Developer job Difficult?

ava is consistently a top choice for enterprise applications. Yet finding Java developers can be a massive headache for chief information officers and IT project managers. While there are many developers with a host of experience working with the second most popular coding language, Java developer remains one of the most difficult jobs to fill.

The career trajectories of many developers are changing. In the past, Java was often a budding developer’s first “Hello, world!” Today, it’s not always the first coding language they learn — or even the second or third. While Java remains popular for enterprise applications — with its massive library serving as the cornerstone for Android apps in particular — that strength may be why many developers don’t use the coding language for their personal projects.

Many talented software developers are active in one or more of the many communities dedicated to exploratory programming, and they may want to work with a different language in their free time. Languages such as Python and C++ are outstripping Java for developer dabbling and may appeal to technology professionals looking to start out fresh on a career in programming.

Does this mean that Java is seen as the buttoned-down business programming language, while one like Python is regarded as the hipper kid in town? Maybe.

And businesses struggling to hire Java developers can benefit by approaching candidate evaluations and project hires with this perspective in mind. For example, they may want to discuss other languages a developer might be able to use at the company if hired.

At the very least, understanding what today’s developer might be looking for can help businesses take stock of their own software programming direction.

What are you looking for in a Java developer?

High demand for programmers in general means that top candidates can be selective in committing to a company, whether for a project or full-time employment. If a project doesn’t offer an interesting application of his or her skill set, the developer might decide to stay away.

Clearly, a more by-the-numbers project can still catch the interest of an able programmer, but you don’t ever want to cut yourself off from attracting top-tier talent. Be willing to grow a professional’s responsibilities as that person becomes more comfortable in the role.

Best practices for hiring web developers all apply here — offer interesting work, competitive compensation and benefits the candidate can’t find just anywhere. You may even consider investing in a promising candidate who may not have 100 percent of exactly what you’re looking for. In a tight job market, someone who can bring most of what you need may work out fine with some on-the-job training.

Are Coders in Demand?

Apart from companies in the technology sector, there are an increasing number of businesses relying on computer code. No wonder that eight of the top 25 jobs this year are tech positions, according to Glassdoor. A software engineer could just as easily find themselves working at Apple, as they could in a hospital, or at an automotive manufacturer.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projects that employment specifically for computer programmers will decline 8% to 302,200 positions over the next decade as businesses outsource projects to less expensive contract workers overseas.

However, a new report from Burning Glass, a job market analytics firm, found that there were as many as 7 million job openings in 2015 in occupations that required coding skills. They also found that programming jobs overall are growing 12% faster than the market average.

This last finding is the result of researchers broadening the scope of their analysis to include coding skills across five major job categories:

• Information Technology (IT) worker
• Data Analysts
• Artists and designers
• Engineers
• Scientists

The skills were defined as using a computer program to write instructions to a computer as opposed to using established applications. The researchers looked at programming languages including JavaScript and HTML for building websites, statistical programs R and SAS, AutoCAD programs for engineers, and other all-purpose programming languages such as Java, Python, and C++.

The report used data drawn from 26 million U.S. online job postings collected in 2015 and other data from the BLS. It looks at the job market demand for coding skills in order to reveal the specific jobs and skills that employers are seeking.

One major revelation: Half of all programming openings are in industries outside of technology. Among them:

• Finance
• Manufacturing
• Health Care

As a result, coding has become a core skill that bolsters a candidate’s chances of commanding a high salary. Burning Glass researchers found that jobs that require coding skills pay up to $22,000 per year more, on average.

“For students looking to increase their potential income, few other skills open the door to as many well-paying careers,” they write in the report. Nearly half (49%) of all jobs that pay more than $58,000 require some coding skills, according to their analysis.

What’s most in demand? The report found that the highest demand was for programming languages with broad applicability. Other skills in demand include:

• SQL – Databases
• Java -General purpose programming
• Javascript -Web development
• Linux – Computer system operations
• XML – General purpose programming
• C++ -General purpose programming, especially in engineering
• C# -General purpose programming
• Python -General purpose programming
• .NET -General purpose programming

Obviously, positions in IT require more specialization, yet positions in science that use mathematical computing programs such as Python, don’t need them on a daily basis.

Acquiring such knowledge used to land squarely in the environs of higher education. Now we know that while tech’s current most in-demand job of data scientist usually requires an advanced degree in math and physics, programmers don’t need a computer science degree to succeed.

MIT just launched a pilot program in New Hampshire called Coding Across the Curriculum “TeachCode Academy” aimed at local NH teachers to learn how to teach code in an effort to implement computer science into the curriculum. And the proliferation of coding boot camps is making coding skills more attainable for enterprising job seekers.

Burning Glass researchers found that most (89%) of coding jobs require a bachelor’s degree, as compared to 44% of all career-track jobs. For those with neither a bachelor’s or a coding school certification, short-term credentials can be parlayed into roles such as computer user support (ie: help desk), engineering technicians, and drafters. All of these are options with considerable demand, the researchers say.

Do Coders work from Home?

Apart from the full-time employment in the field of medical administration, it also provides several opportunities to do this type of work from the comfort of your own home. There is a number of medical coding online books available from which you can learn the process of coding and billing and start working from home.

Here, we have listed the top 10 reality of coding from home with children.

1. Contractual job positions

Most of the work from home medical coding jobs are contractual. If you are also one among them then you can avail discount medical coding books online to learn the coding and billing process in a detailed manner.

2. Make your own schedule

This is most probably one of the best benefits of working from home. You have the liberty to create your own schedule.

3. Earn more while working less

The more you are experienced, the more you are in demand and thus can earn more by working fewer hours a week.

4. Do a specified amount of work each week

Working from home as a medical coder will enable ask for a specified amount of work each week, code it within a specific time frame, maintain a certain accuracy standard, and in return get paid on a “per chart coded” basis.

5. Work for companies that award coding contracts

Working from home facilitates a medical coder to expect companies that award coding contracts to provide the work and coding software while they will be responsible for providing Coding Materials like computer hardware, internet connection, and medical coding books.

6. With growing experience demands increases too

Once you gain experience in the field of coding and billing then you will be in demand and you will get several works from job opportunities.

7.Available with extra time to pursue interests

As you work for a specific time period, you get to spend more time on other things: like hobbies, passions or family time.

8. Work remotely

Working from home facilitates you to work remotely as you work online. You can work while on a vacation, at home or at Starbucks or anywhere.

9. Avail positions for a specific specialty

You can work for a specific specialty, such as pediatrics, emergency medicine, or dermatology if you have a CPC or CCS coding credential and a minimum of three years of coding within their specialty.

10. Self-reliant and empowerment

Working as a medical coder from home with children, you can obtain a greater sense of self-reliance by gaining expertise in the field.

What is the Highest Paid Coding Job?

Salaries differ according to location, with developers in the US earning noticeably more than the rest of the world, but here are five of the highest paying roles worldwide.

1. DevOps specialists

Earning more than any other tech worker throughout the world, these developers are focused on refining every aspect of how code is tested, built, and deployed.

DevOps specialists need to understand the requirements of both software developers and IT operations, and know which tools are available to automate software and infrastructure changes and roll outs.

Karthiga Sadasivan, director and head of DevOps at Happiest Minds Technologies, told TechRepublic important skills include:

• Source control (like Git, Bitbucket, VSTS, etc.)
• Continuous integration (like Jenkins, Bamboo, VSTS )
• Infrastructure automation (like Puppet, Chef, Ansible)
• Deployment automation and orchestration (like Jenkins, VSTS, Octopus Deploy)
• Container concepts (LXD, Docker)
• Orchestration (Kubernetes, Mesos, Swarm)
• Cloud (like AWS, Azure, Google Cloud Platform, OpenStack)

Many of these tools can be used with Python scripting, although the Go and Ruby programming languages are also commonly used by DevOps specialists.

2. Data scientist

Data scientists help organizations identify useful patterns in data, and are used for everything from predicting cancer risks from a person’s lifestyle to devising mathematical models that allow robots to spot cracks in plane engines.

As an increasing number of companies use machine learning, it’s likely demand for data scientists, which currently outstrips supply by some margin, will continue to grow.

The skills required are varied, but candidates will typically need good mathematical knowledge — including both statistics and multivariate calculus — programming skills in languages such as R and Python and the database query language SQL, and the ability to clean up messy data. If you want to know more, TechRepublic has a list of some of the most useful skills for those looking to break into the field.

3. Back-end developer

A back-end developer writes the software used on servers that underpin websites and modern web services.

Such is the breadth of back-end platforms, the role can require skills in any number of languages, from the venerable PHP and Java to Python and node.js JavaScript. Beyond programming language skills, a back-end developer may also need to understand how to create APIs, front-end languages such as HTML and CSS, user interface design and more.

4. Full-stack developer

Full-stack developers are web developers who don’t just understand the core web technologies of HTML, CSS and JavaScript but also the software frameworks, databases and back-end tech needed to build modern web sites and services.

Skills typically requested include the Angular or React frameworks, node.js JavaScript and the version-control software Git.

5. Embedded developer

Embedded developers are typically engaged in writing highly efficient software to run on the low-power microprocessor and microcontroller boards found in electronic appliances, kiosks, and industrial control units.

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Embedded developers may be required to write code for any layer of the stack: from the low-level firmware that interacts with a board’s hardware up to the higher-level software that will run on the board.

The languages C and C++ are often used due to being able to run extremely efficiently and offering precise control over memory use. Engineers often also have a working knowledge of assembly language.

Finally

As we enter a new decade in 2021, Java is more than ever a programming language to learn. Whether as a first language or to broaden your programming skills, Java will bring you a lot and will be a significant asset to your career.

Of course, Java is not always the most appropriate language for each domain in the computer industry. Nevertheless, Java has the advantage of being versatile while benefiting from an execution platform, the famous JVM, extremely powerful which will give you the possibility to create high-performance and scalable programs.