Loom

Loom was initiated by the OpenJDK community to address the limitations of traditional Java threads. It aimed to introduce lightweight, user-mode threads to improve concurrency and simplify high-throughput application development. The project began in 2017 to enable Java applications to handle many more concurrent tasks efficiently without the complexity and overhead associated with traditional threading models.

Loom's strengths include its ability to handle millions of lightweight threads, simplifying concurrent programming and improving performance in high-throughput applications. Weaknesses may involve the complexity of integrating with existing Java codebases and potential initial performance overhead. Competitors include Kotlin Coroutines, Project Reactor, and Akka, which also aim to simplify concurrency and improve performance in different ways.

A Loom expert must have strong proficiency in Java, particularly with its concurrency and threading models. They should understand virtual threads and their lifecycle, be adept at performance tuning and debugging concurrent applications, and possess knowledge of JVM internals. Familiarity with asynchronous programming paradigms and experience with other concurrency frameworks like Kotlin Coroutines or Akka is also beneficial.