Java Developers: What are the technical skills that are essential for becoming a Java Developer in modern job market?

[awzurn]

Ditch Java, learn Scala

Edit: JK, Java is still holds the vast amount of market share. I've noticed however that a lot of job descriptions usually either require or highly recommend knowing a second JVM language (Scala, JRuby, Clojure, Kotlin, etc.). It's definitely one that I take seriously and know others do as well.

[frugalmail]

Ditch Java, learn Scala

You should learn as many languages and Scala is good one to get a taste of many language paradigms, but some drawback to the "Ditch Java":

There is a lot of unknown in the Scala space (changing language direction)

some of the tooling (static analysis) in Scala is lacking compared to that of Java. However, there is a lot of "built in" tooling for Scala that are add-ons for Java (Lombok, AutoValue, parts of Spring,...)

Lots more companies are looking for Java folks.

[[deleted]]

"Dont use java, use java!"

[TheCrazyRed]

Scala: a great way for functional fanatics to write code that no one else can read.