There have been many iterations of 'Java except it doesn't suck', but which all were extremely similar to Java - Xtend, Groovy, etc. So when Scala came onto the

There have been many iterations of 'Java except it doesn't suck', but which all were extremely similar to Java - Xtend, Groovy, etc. So when Scala came onto the scene, even though it was a serious functional language and encouraged a very different style of programming than Java, it was seized on as a 'Java except it doesn't suck' language because it was much more different than previous ones and so felt more like a fresh start. The sentiment hasn't died yet, although Kotlin should at this point be treated as the official 'Java except it doesn't suck' language, since it's designed directly for it, is different enough, and has mainstream adoption.