Developing a Successful Enterprise Application in Java

Nowadays, every fast-growing business greatly relies on software that helps to perform complex business processes. Off-the-shelf solutions are often quite cumbersome to fulfill all business tasks smoothly.

Thus a lot of business owners prefer tailored enterprise applications that considerably facilitate the accomplishment of all the companies’ objectives.

In this article, we’ve gathered the most essential information you need to know on how to build a successful enterprise application. Dive in!

What Is an Enterprise Application and Why Do You Need It?

Enterprise applications are the apps that companies use to facilitate and streamline complex business processes. These apps are usually quite sophisticated and involve strong business logic to run multiple operations and process large amounts of data.

All enterprise applications can be divided into the following categories:

• Enterprise management systems support various business processes, such as finance and accounting, human resources, production and manufacturing, and sales and marketing.
• Customer relationship management systems are divided into customer analytical apps that gather and process data on your clients and customer service apps that interact with clients, handling their requests.
• Supply chain management systems help to plan goods delivery, analyze product demand, and track goods from a warehouse to shop shelves.

Enterprise applications are a great way to enhance your business performance in many ways. Here are just a few examples of how you can improve your business processes with them. Enterprise applications help to:

• Enhance customer service by customer data analysis and providing the best advice based on the gathered data.
• Reduce costs with automation of sales force and customer support, minimizing the chances of goods loss or damage.
• Perform knowledge-based management processes by accumulating data from different departments in one hub and streamlining workflow among them.
• Improve marketing strategies by analyzing goods supply and forecasting demand, as well as monitoring customer satisfaction.

What Is an Enterprise Application in Java?

Java is one of the most popular programming languages among software developers. According to Stack Overflow Developing Survey, it’s ranked 5th among the most frequently chosen programming languages for software development.

The reason is that it’s highly versatile, and it can be used for building web and mobile applications, developing big data analysis software, Internet of Things (IoT) systems, and enterprise applications.

For building enterprise applications, Java offers a Java Enterprise Edition (Java EE, formerly known as J2EE) platform.

With a set of APIs and a runtime environment, Java EE facilitates the development of enterprise applications and helps developers concentrate on functionality rather than configuring the development environment.

Java addresses the weak points that software developers often encounter when building large-scale solutions:

Availability of Development Tools

Since enterprise apps perform many business processes, such as data gathering and analysis, planning, operation management, and many more, software developers need to build complex systems with extensive and easy-customizable functionality.

Java offers numerous libraries, APIs, development environments (IDEs), and frameworks for building functionality of any complexity. Moreover, with lots of tools, Java developers can build apps faster with fewer challenges and potential bugs.

Speed and Performance

These metrics are the main points for enterprise developers as those apps are aimed at simplifying business operations and providing access to multiple users at the same time.

Java helps enterprise apps remain stable and fast with the increasing traffic load while reducing memory consumption.

Security

It is a crucial point for enterprise applications when data loss or hacking can cause irreparable damage to the whole business. Java ensures advanced protection for data and applications and provides safe data exchange between a client and a server through secure protocols.

Simplicity

It is one of Java’s distinctive features. As it’s a high-level language, it is very close to English. Therefore, it’s easy to write and maintain. Java is flexible – developers create reusable code that can be applied in building other applications. Above all, Java provides a user-friendly and intuitive app user interface.

Cost-Saving

Java EE significantly facilitates and accelerates the development process. It results in minimizing development errors and faster time to market. Moreover, developers create reusable blocks of code that can be used several times. All these factors influence the total price of enterprise software development.

How to Develop Your Enterprise App Effectively

Enterprise app development has dramatically changed over the past several years. With the rapid development of IT technologies, it has become more flexible, faster, collaborative, and cheaper.

Previously, IT companies had to invest heavily into an in-house team, hardware, and software equipment, to get the needed competency and tools to develop an enterprise application.

However, nowadays, the use of cloud services, faster internet connection, and outsourcing made it possible to develop secure, productive, reliable, and scalable solutions in a shorter period of time with less investment.

Here are four reasons why outsourcing makes your enterprise app development effective.

Use of the Latest Technology

To stay ahead of the competitors, most outsourcing companies offer the latest technologies and tools for enterprise app development.

For example, to better manage business processes in your company, outsourcing companies can create mobile and web applications for you to run your business remotely. This way, you can access your enterprise system from any location. You only need a stable internet connection and an installed application or a web browser.

Access to a Wider Talent Pool

When developing a specific solution, particularly in the case of enterprise applications development, you’re very likely to need development experts that have in-depth knowledge of a certain niche.

Outsourcing companies have a wide range of specialists who know how to get your enterprise app off the ground with minimum challenges.

Faster Product Release and Improved Quality

Outsourcing companies use various tools that accelerate the software development process, minimize the number of errors, and ensure high-quality standards in enterprise apps.

Among them are Java Spring framework, Java EE, Amazon Web Services (AWS), and others. They help enterprise developers focus on building applications and avoid the necessity to configure the development environment or write code from scratch.

Substantial Savings

By outsourcing your enterprise web application development, you significantly reduce the development costs.

This is because you transfer app development to countries with lower living costs and, as a result, can get the same services as in your home country but for a lower price.

However, to get a decent service and a high-quality app, you must investigate the outsourcing market well. We recommend taking a closer look at Eastern European software development outsourcing companies.

They usually have positive feedback on specialized sites such as Clutch and provide the best value-for-money services.

Tips to Improve Performance in Java

Improving performance in Java applications is a critical task, especially for enterprise-level systems that need to handle substantial workloads and provide fast response times.

Here are some tips and strategies to improve the performance of your Java applications:

Efficient Memory Management

Java’s automatic memory management, provided by the garbage collector, is advantageous but can lead to performance issues if not managed carefully. To optimize memory usage, do the following:

• Minimize Object Creation: Frequent object creation and subsequent garbage collection can slow down your application. Reuse objects when possible and employ object pooling techniques.
• Avoid Memory Leaks: Make sure that objects are properly dereferenced when they are no longer needed to prevent memory leaks.

Fine-Tuned Garbage Collection

Java offers various garbage collection strategies to cater to different application types. Choosing the right one and appropriately configuring it can greatly impact performance:

• Garbage Collection Algorithms: Explore different garbage collection algorithms, such as G1, CMS, and Parallel. Then choose one that best suits your application’s memory usage and responsiveness requirements.
• Tuning GC Parameters: Adjust garbage collection parameters based on your application’s memory requirements and latency goals. Tuning parameters like heap size, survivor ratios, and collection frequency can optimize performance.

Efficient Data Access

Efficiently accessing and managing data is important for good performance:

• Database Connection Management: Use connection pooling libraries to manage database connections and reduce the overhead of creating and closing connections.
• Batch Processing: When dealing with large volumes of data, use batch processing techniques to minimize the number of database interactions and improve efficiency.

Multithreading and Concurrency

Java’s support for multithreading can significantly improve performance by allowing the execution of multiple tasks concurrently:

• Thread Pooling: Employ thread pooling mechanisms to avoid the overhead of creating and destroying threads for every task. This optimizes resource consumption and avoids thread-related bottlenecks.
• Synchronization: Use synchronization mechanisms like locks and semaphores carefully. Excessive use of synchronization can lead to conflicts and slow performance.

Profiling and Performance Monitoring

Profiling tools and performance monitoring help identify bottlenecks and areas for improvement:

• Profiling Tools: Use profiling tools to find areas of code that swallow too many resources or cause performance bottlenecks. Tools like VisualVM and YourKit provide valuable insights into application behavior.
• Monitoring Tools: Implement monitoring tools to gather real-time performance data. This data can help you detect issues, plan for capacity upgrades, and improve resource allocation.

Code Optimization

Optimizing the code itself can lead to substantial performance improvements:

• Loop Optimization: Minimize the work done within loops and avoid unnecessary iterations. Use efficient algorithms to reduce computation time.
• Lazy Loading: Load data and resources only when needed rather than preloading everything at once. This approach reduces startup time and memory usage.

External Resource Management

Effective management of external resources is vital for performance:

• File I/O: Opt for buffered I/O when dealing with files to reduce the overhead of frequent disk access.
• Network Communication: Employ asynchronous and non-blocking I/O mechanisms for network communication to prevent threads from waiting and improve responsiveness.

Caching Strategies

Caching frequently used data can greatly improve performance:

• In-Memory Caching: Apply in-memory caching mechanisms using libraries like Ehcache or Caffeine to store frequently accessed data and reduce expensive calculations or database queries.
• Distributed Caching: For applications distributed across multiple nodes, consider distributed caching solutions like Redis or Memcached to share cached data efficiently.

Best Practices for Java Enterprise Application Development

To guarantee the success of your Java enterprise application, follow these best practices:

• Code Consistency: Enforce coding standards to provide codebase consistency. Consistent code is easier to comprehend and maintain.
• Documentation: Thoroughly document the code, APIs, and architectural decisions. Clear documentation helps in onboarding new developers and understanding the application’s functionality.
• Version Control: Use version control systems like Git to track changes, effectively collaborate, and go back to previous versions if necessary.
• Performance Monitoring: Implement monitoring tools to track application performance in real time. This helps find bottlenecks and optimize the application accordingly.
• Regular Updates and Maintenance: Keep your app updated with new features, security fixes, and performance improvements. Regular maintenance prevents the accumulation of technical debt.

Conclusion

Java is an excellent choice for developing successful enterprise applications that streamline complex business processes.

Its versatility, performance capabilities, and robust tools make it ideal for building applications that excel in speed, security, and functionality.

By embracing Java’s strengths and coding best practices, thorough documentation, version control, and consistent updates, enterprise applications can achieve long-term success in a highly competitive market.

Ready to use Java’s potential for your enterprise application? Connect with SCAND today to access cutting-edge Java development services customized to your needs.