Should I focus on Spring Boot for Java backend development in 2025?

Hi there! I’m a third year computer science student trying to decide on my learning path. I want to get into backend development using Java and was thinking about starting with Spring Boot. But I keep wondering if this is still a good choice in today’s tech landscape.

Does the job market still value Java developers who know Spring Boot? Or would it be better to pivot to something like AI and machine learning which seems to be everywhere now?

I would really appreciate hearing from anyone who works in the field or has recently made similar decisions about their career direction. Any insights would be helpful!

what gets you more excited though - building solid APIs and managing complex data, or working with ML algorithms? spring boot’s got steady demand and isn’t disappearing anytime soon, but what do you actually enjoy writing code for?

I’ve been doing enterprise development for years, and Spring Boot is definitely still relevant for 2025. It keeps getting updated regularly with solid community backing, so it’s a great foundation for backend work. Tons of big companies still run on Java systems, and Spring Boot’s convention-over-configuration setup makes rapid development way easier. Sure, AI and ML are hot right now, but they need solid backends to run on - and guess what often powers those? Spring Boot. Don’t think of this as choosing one or the other. Knowing both makes you way more valuable. The job market is constantly looking for experienced Spring Boot devs, especially if you can work with microservices and cloud platforms.

spring boot’s def here to stay. been workin with it for 3 years at my company, and we’re still lookin for devs with that skill. dont worry too much about the buzz around AI/ML - they still need strong backends, and spring boot does the job.