+1 on keeping things simple and not using a "F"ramework for every concern from the very beginning.

>in Java you have to make those architecture choices day 1.

That's just not true. Very easy and advantageous to start out with say a simple container-less app with in-memory/flat file persistence and build up as you need. It's no different in Java and much more the norm in other JVM languages like Scala/Clojure.