Kotlin is the closest thing to a "better Java" that I've found. I've used it with Spring Boot and the interoperability with Java is fantastic. A Java dev would have no problem picking it up quickly (as opposed to Clojure and even Scala).
I say this as a Clojure fan, there are many instances where I'd probably choose Kotlin nowadays. You can also mix JVM languages within the same application; I've found it rather useful to sprinkle some Clojure into a Java/Spring application for certain tasks. Maven and Gradle both have tooling to handle it :)
I say this as a Clojure fan, there are many instances where I'd probably choose Kotlin nowadays. You can also mix JVM languages within the same application; I've found it rather useful to sprinkle some Clojure into a Java/Spring application for certain tasks. Maven and Gradle both have tooling to handle it :)