This seems a bit uncharitable. I still use Java a lot for application servers[1] and enjoy it. I've also used Go, but I wouldn't want to try and implement, sa

This seems a bit uncharitable. I still use Java a lot for application servers[1] and enjoy it. I've also used Go, but I wouldn't want to try and implement, say a non trivial REST server with it. I don't have the time to code everything from scratch, or to use an immature Go library or framework for example, when there are perfectly good ones in the Java world.[2] Perhaps it might be best to just see languages as tools, and that each language has a purpose. Java is old, so what? Lots of people derive value from it, and it's very stable. You might be glad that banks use it, instead of immediately jumping on whatever languages you mentioned above. At least it manages to do boring things like keep you accounts relatively safe from hackers. [1] https://www.dropwizard.io/1.3.9/docs/ https://www.dropwizard.io/1.3.9/docs/ [2] And yes, for that kind of application, unchecked exceptions are way more convenient than thousands of lines of if err != nil all over the place. And annotations in Go are an afterthought and it shows.