Between 2020 and 2024, we were told that ‘blocking’ code was bad.

We were told to write complex, asynchronous gymnastics to save a few milliseconds. Thus, we over-engineered everything. But the world has changed today.

With Java 21+ and the upcoming Java 25, the fundamental math behind Java development has changed. Project Loom and Virtual Threads are here as well.

Together, they allow us to write simple, blocking code that scales like non-blocking code.

The smart move in 2026 is to delete the complexity altogether. It is to hire Java developers in India who specializing in deleting old code – not adding more frameworks.

Firms must look for Java developers who can migrate them back to simplicity, remove the reactive scaffolding and leave a clean, boring service behind. Here’s why and how.

A Necessary Complexity: Why We Went Reactive

Reactive programming was a brilliant answer to a hard constraint:

þ  For years, Java threads were merely heavy and expensive wrappers for OS threads

þ  To handle 10k concurrent connections, you couldn’t have 10k threads

þ  If you did - your servers would crash

So, Java developers were compelled to use tools like Project Reactor or RxJava:

These frameworks allowed a small number of threads to handle a massive number of tasks using non-blocking I/O

They were the right tools for high-throughput systems

But this approach came at some big costs. The code written with these tools became:

ý  Harder to write

ý  Harder to read

ý  A nightmare to debug

Thankfully, Project Loom is here to switch things up.

The Virtual Thread Revolution

Project Loom has introduced Virtual Threads:

ü  These are lightweight threads managed by the Java Virtual Machine (JVM)

ü  They’re not managed by the Operating System

ü  Hence, threads are no longer expensive resources – they’re practically free

You can spawn a million of them for the cost of a few GBs of RAM. This removes the need for Reactive coding. With it you can simplify complex code in many ways like:

®    From a complex chain, like: repository.findById(id).map(user -> ...).subscribe()

®    To intuitive, linear code, like: User = repository.findById(id);

This is Structured Concurrency, i.e., code that reads like English, debugs linearly, and it scales massively. With it, you no longer need complexity to achieve scale.

Profile of Simplifiers

So, who do you hire in this new era?

Here’s the profile to look for when you hire Java developers in India:

Strategic Mindset

They can analyze a reactive service and ask, ‘Is this Mono.zip () complexity buying us performance? Or is it just legacy ceremony?’

They know how to refactor intricate reactive chains into simple, concurrent virtual threads. Such developers can drastically reduce the cognitive load of your codebase.

Mastery of the Modern Stack

Modern developers use Spring AI.

With it they can inject LLM capabilities directly into the Java Service Layer.

Because Virtual Threads make blocking cheap, waiting for an AI model to respond (a slow process) no longer freezes your system. You don’t need call-backs - you just need to wait a while. This is the new ‘Full Stack’ - a Back-end + AI Model.

FinOps and the GraalVM Standard

It’s 2026, and ‘cold starts’ are simply unacceptable today.

If your serverless function takes 5 seconds to wake up, you lose the user.

So, modern developers must use GraalVM Native Image:

ü  It compiles Java code into a binary

ü  Starts instantly

ü  Uses up to 80% less memory

How to Vet for Pragmatic Architects

Most assessments focus on ‘adding’ code.

Your recruiters need to focus on ‘simplifying’ it.

Can the candidate navigate complex legacy code, understand its original purpose, and safely guide it toward a simpler future?

To confirm these details, ask candidates to complete the following types of tasks:

þ  ‘Refactor this RxJava chain into a Virtual Thread loop’

þ  ‘How would you migrate this service to GraalVM to cut cloud costs?’

þ  ‘Demonstrate how you use Spring 6+ to remove boilerplate’

If they cling to complexity, they don’t pass. If they are Java 25 migration experts who can delete the reactive glue code and replace it with clean concurrency primitives, measured performance, and predictable operations – they pass.

Conclusion

Don’t hire developers still stuck in 2023’s complexity - the ones who ‘fix’ things by adding more queues, more layers, more libraries, more CPU.

Only hire Java developers in India who know how to simplify and make your system and code-base cleverer, more obvious, and less complicated.