Java is one of the primary programming languages even now. As its community is large and it is a favorite among the developers, therefore, there’s no lack of Java development tools available online.

Before choosing one for any of your projects it is important to research and analyze the various tools. Knowing the features and advantages of the Java development tools gives away through the right development.

As Java is widely used in apps, software, and web development the presence of ample IDEs, frameworks, and profilers will always be there.

Here are top and essential java development tools (frameworks, servers, IDEs, etc.) that the developers can select from in 2021:

1. IDE-Netbeans and Eclipse

Netbeans was released in 1996 especially for Java and undoubtedly it’s also as preferred as Java even today. Besides, Java developers use it for other languages too because of its impeccable development features and device accessibility.

Netbeans can be used on all those platforms on which Java runs. By default, Netbeans uses Ant build for projects, but you can also set it up to use Maven.

It's popular among developers who like to research and are majorly interested in Java. It is being used by organizations such as Boeing, NASA, NATO, and EU research agencies.

2. Android development-Android Studio

Android code development is supported the best in Android Studio. Android Studio is specially designed with features such as Android-specific refactoring, Lint tools to predict catch performance and compatibility problems, etc.

Java is still one of the main languages for android apps today and Android Studio is used for many of the mobile apps as a development environment. Compiling the apps in Android Studio is easy and once the developed app meets the Google policies, it can be uploaded on the Play Store.

3. Junit Framework

JUnit is already used by several Java programmers today. It is one of the best frameworks for Java development in 2021 because it is open-source and integrates with all the popular Java IDEs, as well as Maven, Ant, Gradle, and Jenkins.

Major features of Junit include writing and running various repeated and automated tests enabling test-driven development.

During runtime, Junit requires Java 8 or higher. It is linked as a JAR at compile time and you can test code that's been compiled with previous versions of the JDK.

4. Spring Frameworks

Spring Framework has many versions forming an expanded ecosystem. It has new features every now and then and can be a bit tricky for early learners.

Here are some Spring Frameworks that are important to learn for Java developers:

Spring Boot is the best option for java developers who are starting with the framework. It is used to build stand-alone, production-grade Spring applications hassle-free

Spring Security is used for securing Spring-based applications. It maintains the security of the Spring applications

5. Spark

Spark is a compact framework for Java and Kotlin development. It is not as large as Spring yet it can be your go-to option in the year 2021 and the future.

It is preferred by developers because it is seamless and offers development with minimal effort. Spark is a lightweight framework that can be easily installed and learned by new developers too.

The framework is exclusively for developing expressive applications without much boilerplate code. Microservices are best developed using Spark as it supports rapid development.

6. Tomcat

Apache Tomcat offers an HTTP web server environment for the Java code. Java Servlet, Java Server Pages, Java Expression Language, and Java WebSocket all these technologies are well implemented by Apache tomcat.

Tomcat is used for complex and large-scale applications. Tomcat is not a full application server, it is specifically good for web apps that don't require full Java EE specifications.

Build tools- Maven and Jenkins

The most preferred build tools for Java are Maven and Jenkins. Maven is specially designed to manage dependencies and the software lifecycle.

It operates with plugins that permit the users to add other tasks such as standard compile, test, package, install, deploy tasks. Jenkins is designed for Continuous Integration (CI). It is an open-source automation server that helps Java developers reliably build, test, and deploy their software.

The above-mentioned tools for Java application development are in the trend this year and of course in the years to come. Choose from these tools for perfect Java application development.