Spring continued where J2EE had ended in 2006. Spring is the new J2EE. Wherever I can I avoid it and solely use the latest Java EE without dependency to any external bloatware.
Never heard of spring, never heard of pojo. Specialized in C/C++, STL, Boost, OpenGL and GLUT, GLx... over the decade have only found interviews for Java jobs. Have tried to learn Java, used them a jobs where none of my bosses knew it or cowokers could spend time talking to me about it. Still, I can only get interviews of Java jobs because that is the only work experience on my resume. Why are we all so screwed?