I've been a "mainly" Java programmer for 15+ years (I've used several other languages, but Java has remained the main one over all this time). I only did someth

I've been a "mainly" Java programmer for 15+ years (I've used several other languages, but Java has remained the main one over all this time). I only did something like 1 year using Spring in one of my early jobs. So, when I saw some people online talking like "you ain't a Java programmer if you don't do Spring" I used to think they're complete idiots, I am living proof you can write lots and lots of Java and basically never encounter Spring. However, since then I've seen several surveys of JVM programmers, and apparently Spring is used in something like 80% of Java projects, so it's not surprising a majority of people, even Java developers, think that Spring is somehow mandatory if you're a Java programmer. But of course, it's just a framework, one of many, it's just the most popular one. Can you "do JS" professionally without knowing Javascript today? I'd think so. I guess React is about as dominant in the JS-world as Spring is in the Java-world.