It's entirely possible to write Java without an IDE. I've done it, and one of my colleagues has been using VSCode quite happily (we've bullied him into stopping

It's entirely possible to write Java without an IDE. I've done it, and one of my colleagues has been using VSCode quite happily (we've bullied him into stopping because it doesn't have a formatter and he keeps checking in wonky code - but that's another story). But writing any language is much more productive with a good IDE. For me, the added value in using Java 21 now rather than in a few months is not enough to outweigh giving up the use of an IDE.