5 ms·

> I always hoped Java would make a comeback In order to make a comeback, Java first needs to fall from the TOP 3 languages used by professional programmers in

> I always hoped Java would make a comeback In order to make a comeback, Java first needs to fall from the TOP 3 languages used by professional programmers in the world. https://insights.stackoverflow.com/survey/2020#most-popular-technologies https://insights.stackoverflow.com/survey/2020#most-popular-...

germansm 6y ago
In the same way Rust appears in ... (5,1% - 4.8% Professional Developers). The big players are looking for commercial long term safety about the used tools, platforms, programming languages and their ecosystems. After that, the technical discussion will take place.
- qppo 6y ago
  I'm not sure who "the big players" are in your book but the largest software engineering organizations in the world are already using Rust. The post is about one of them committing their resources to the project itself. Caution doesn't make money, it just prevents losing as much money. When it comes to technology if you're waiting for everyone else to validate an idea, you're too late.
  - est31 6y ago
    > the largest software engineering organizations in the world are already using Rust. That doesn't mean much because it is true for probably most serious technologies out there. Most of those organizations also have a perl script somewhere. Does that mean their core products are written in perl? Nope. That being said, Rust is certainly successful and seeing growing adoption.
    - moltonel3x 6y ago
      This isn't just anecdotal usage, we've seen plenty of Rust blog posts, job offers and opensource releases from these companies.
  - germansm 6y ago
    "...the largest software engineering organizations in the world are already using Rust ...", and also for a long long time have been using Java, JavaScript, SQL, and much more programming languages. ¿It's only about new (and better) ways to develop software or can also be 'cool' to interfere in the evolution of the programming language that you plan to use for the next years ? I 'm not against to use Rust or any other programming language, open source project or technology. I mean, the companies love open source projects because they can produce their self flavor as a product (search engine, linux distro, containers and orchestration technologies, etc.) when they wish that, without worries about uncomfortable dependencies. AWS loves Rust in the same way than Facebook loved PHP.
    - edgyquant 6y ago
      No not at all but even if that we’re the case fb taking an interest spurred PHP from a legacy language back into a living language that’s growing in features.
mtgx 6y ago
If Android would've dumped Java it would've fallen from the top 3 a long time ago. I thought that Oracle winning the lawsuit against Google would for sure light a fire under Google's asses to do that, but instead they just went ahead and adopted OpenJDK, which of course means that Java as a language will continue to remain popular. I'm not sure Google's adoption of Kotlin is really the answer here either.
gibolt 6y ago
These insights are a snapshot, not a trend line. Java can be in rapid decline and still be at the top of the list. Changing acceleration, not position, is how you make a comeback. Java is currently losing Android devs to Kotlin. That could cause a precipitous drop in direct usage in the coming years.
- Thaxll 6y ago
  Java is nowhere close losing the #1/2 spot in programming language, it's just everywhere.
  - steveklabnik 6y ago
    I agree that Java is not going anywhere, but I could absolutely see a world where JavaScript and Python are number one and two.
    - dexterdog 6y ago
      After Excel
    - tutfbhuf 6y ago
      Well on GitHub this is already the case since quite some time.
    - didibus 6y ago
      Ya, but the ranking don't really matter, the usage does. It's possible Java grew year over year and yet lost rank.
      - steveklabnik 6y ago
        I certainly agree that language rankings don’t really matter. In very broad strokes, “used everywhere,” “used many places,” “used some places,” “pretty niche,” “academic only,” these kinds of things are more useful than arguing which is 5 vs 6.
    - 6y ago
mkoubaa 6y ago
Exactly. Sometimes it takes more developers to maintain code than to initially implement it, which means technology choices today may lead to bigger popularity trends down the road.
- Bombthecat 6y ago
  /cries in old code

germansm 6y ago

In the same way Rust appears in ... (5,1% - 4.8% Professional Developers). The big players are looking for commercial long term safety about the used tools, platforms, programming languages and their ecosystems. After that, the technical discussion will take place.

qppo 6y ago
I'm not sure who "the big players" are in your book but the largest software engineering organizations in the world are already using Rust. The post is about one of them committing their resources to the project itself. Caution doesn't make money, it just prevents losing as much money. When it comes to technology if you're waiting for everyone else to validate an idea, you're too late.
- est31 6y ago
  > the largest software engineering organizations in the world are already using Rust. That doesn't mean much because it is true for probably most serious technologies out there. Most of those organizations also have a perl script somewhere. Does that mean their core products are written in perl? Nope. That being said, Rust is certainly successful and seeing growing adoption.
  - moltonel3x 6y ago
    This isn't just anecdotal usage, we've seen plenty of Rust blog posts, job offers and opensource releases from these companies.
- germansm 6y ago
  "...the largest software engineering organizations in the world are already using Rust ...", and also for a long long time have been using Java, JavaScript, SQL, and much more programming languages. ¿It's only about new (and better) ways to develop software or can also be 'cool' to interfere in the evolution of the programming language that you plan to use for the next years ? I 'm not against to use Rust or any other programming language, open source project or technology. I mean, the companies love open source projects because they can produce their self flavor as a product (search engine, linux distro, containers and orchestration technologies, etc.) when they wish that, without worries about uncomfortable dependencies. AWS loves Rust in the same way than Facebook loved PHP.
  - edgyquant 6y ago
    No not at all but even if that we’re the case fb taking an interest spurred PHP from a legacy language back into a living language that’s growing in features.

mtgx 6y ago

If Android would've dumped Java it would've fallen from the top 3 a long time ago. I thought that Oracle winning the lawsuit against Google would for sure light a fire under Google's asses to do that, but instead they just went ahead and adopted OpenJDK, which of course means that Java as a language will continue to remain popular. I'm not sure Google's adoption of Kotlin is really the answer here either.

gibolt 6y ago

These insights are a snapshot, not a trend line. Java can be in rapid decline and still be at the top of the list. Changing acceleration, not position, is how you make a comeback. Java is currently losing Android devs to Kotlin. That could cause a precipitous drop in direct usage in the coming years.

Thaxll 6y ago
Java is nowhere close losing the #1/2 spot in programming language, it's just everywhere.
- steveklabnik 6y ago
  I agree that Java is not going anywhere, but I could absolutely see a world where JavaScript and Python are number one and two.
  - dexterdog 6y ago
    After Excel
  - tutfbhuf 6y ago
    Well on GitHub this is already the case since quite some time.
  - didibus 6y ago
    Ya, but the ranking don't really matter, the usage does. It's possible Java grew year over year and yet lost rank.
    - steveklabnik 6y ago
      I certainly agree that language rankings don’t really matter. In very broad strokes, “used everywhere,” “used many places,” “used some places,” “pretty niche,” “academic only,” these kinds of things are more useful than arguing which is 5 vs 6.
  - 6y ago

mkoubaa 6y ago

Exactly. Sometimes it takes more developers to maintain code than to initially implement it, which means technology choices today may lead to bigger popularity trends down the road.

Bombthecat 6y ago
/cries in old code