I suspect a lot of it is simply that it's one of the first "real" programming languages taught in universities and trade schools. People who get into software e

I suspect a lot of it is simply that it's one of the first "real" programming languages taught in universities and trade schools. People who get into software engineering purely pragmatically (their parents told them they could make a lot of money) but have no passion for the art simply default to it. It's why I always ask about favorite programming language in engineer interviews. It's not that there's a right answer, but I do expect to hear some nuanced opinions. If the candidate says "Java" and then looks at me like I'm a little crazy for asking, I know they probably aren't a good fit.