Java programming language has paved the way for developers to develop web and mobile applications engulfed with latest trends. For any new development be it mobile apps, web apps, Progressive web apps, enterprise apps, Java is the first choice of any developer or Java development company. Despite having .net, C++, Python, PHP, Ruby, and their derivatives; Java is considered to be the most reliable, object oriented, and concurrent language for all development needs.

Being a widely preferred language, you may think that Java surely is a flawless language and that is why its demand is always upbeat. Well to burst the bubble, it’s not! Java language has its own flaws and challenges that are still bothering and hampering application developers. These challenges are often kept into consideration by all the developers when they are about to develop an application.

Top 6 Challenges of Java Application Development that are Faced by the Developers.

1. Selecting an IDE for Java App Development

Almost all the developers in the world is already familiar with the Java programming language. They often prefer Java because it is the native language for Android. Developers often need not learn any new skill set for app development if they know Java. The challenge with Java developers in writing Android apps is to choose which integrated development environment (IDE) to use specifically for beginners. Few popular Java IDE’s to choose from are: Eclipse, NetBeans, IntellJ IDEA

2. Memory Leaks

Java is well flourished is defining the memory model required for the functioning of the program. While other languages require manual memory management when the objects are not in use, Java automatically cleans the memory. This way a developer can easily focus on other core application development process for quality output.

Having said this, Java faces the challenge of memory leaks big time. In the Java language, an object may be maintained despite not be used again. This usually leads to an OutOfMemory error and demand the JVM to restart. This brings to a place where in case of an increase in the memory usage and the heap runs out of memory, memory leak issue occurs

The challenge does come with a solution though. Developers can tackle the situation by configuring the JVM parameters properly. Developers need to pay attention while they are coding to take control of memory leaks like sensitive Java collections, or session management.

3. Caching

Caching usually enhances the performance of the application. It is due to the fact that in memory availability if data is faster to access than digging from the persisted ones. While caching looks like a solution to increase the performance of the application, but an inappropriate configuration of a cache may cause memory loss, increase in database load which causes CPU overhead. This needs to be taken care in both types of caches – distributed and fixed size.

The solution to this challenge is the planning and finalizing on the need for cache size using the hit and miss ratio. This way other challenges could be sorted like memory space, database load and CPU overhead.

4. Database

A database is an integral segment of any development as it stores data securely for future use in applications. Despite being an integral component, there could be challenges like wrong use of access to the database, spoilt connection pool size or missing tuning which again impacts the performance of the application. Most of the applications use the JDBC database. And any challenges like fields not being indexed, too much data being fetched, etc. affect the performance as applications regularly use multiple SQL statements.

5. Synchronization

Synchronization is another factor that affects the performance of Java applications. Java uses synchronization to manage multithreading. However, synchronization often causes thread deadlocks, gridlocks and thread pool size issues.

Thread Deadlocks: This occurs when two or more threads are accessing the same resources and one resource is waiting for the other to release a resource and vice versa.

Thread Gridlocks: This occurs when there is a use of too much synchronization. And excessive time is spent waiting for a single resource.

Thread Pool: This controls the simultaneously processed requests when an application server or web container is used by an application. If the thread pool is small, then there will be a lot of wait time by requests. In case of a large thread pool, the processing resources will be too busy.

6. Testing

Java also faces the challenge of testing like other languages. Testing is an integral task that approves the application developed to be launched for end users. Developers should perform an extreme level of test coverage before certifying the application. However, distributed software systems that are written in Java are difficult to test and debug.

Conclusion

During any application development using any programming language, there is bound to face some challenges by developers. No application is ever created or developed in one shot without any hassles. This goes true with Java application development as well. Despite being the most favorable language for all kinds of application development, Java surely comes with few challenges that developers of application development companies often face. This could easily be catered with some smart skills and right talent thus ensuring quality is assured in all the outputs.

Author

Siya Carla is Solution Consultant at Finoit Technologies, a leading custom software development company which turns ideas into reality by providing unique web design and mobile app development services. By creating intuitive, user-friendly, and interactive apps for more than 450 customers throughout the globe, we enjoy a great reputation as a customer-friendly mobile app development company in the market.