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> Does this help explain the fall of Java? I don't know in which alternative universe Java did fell. Java is huger than huge. It may not be the language of t

> Does this help explain the fall of Java? I don't know in which alternative universe Java did fell. Java is huger than huge. It may not be the language of the Web (and this site heavily slants towards people coding in JavaScript) but in the enterprise world Java is really gigantic and won't be sunset before a very long time. The JVM is an incredible piece of machinery that is not going away either. FWIW I find it quite funny that many here seems to consider that the JetBrains IDEs are the best IDEs out there... JetBrains is all about the JVM (be it Java or Kotlin). And these aren't going away anytime soon either.

adventured 3y ago
The primary thing that happened to Java, is the tech universe got a lot bigger and it didn't retain its former mindshare. That definitely isn't a detraction to Java, it's still a big deal. The same fate - or worse - has happened to all popular languages, without exception.
CoastalCoder 3y ago
I'm surprised this is just occuring to me now, but is Java the next COBOL?
- adamc 3y ago
  So old that by 2010 there were memes about it... IIRC.
- nradov 3y ago
  In a sense, yes. That has been a common observation in the industry for years. Java will probably remain the dominant language for business applications for several more decades at least. It probably won't be displaced until the next major disruptive innovation in hardware platforms, to quantum computing or whatever comes next.
neilv 3y ago
When I first saw it, Java was aspiring to be the language of the Web (and set-top boxes). And it could've been (not the applet plugins that the browser vendors temporarily permitted, but more like HotJava, ubiquitous computing, etc.). If Java was intended for enterprise (MIS programmers), they wouldn't have made it look like C. And despite Java's pivot to enterprise, Microsoft was still able to get people to re-up for their over-the-barrel backstabbings, to adopt .NET. I know Java is big in enterprise, but IMHO it's a fall from what it could've been.

adventured 3y ago

The primary thing that happened to Java, is the tech universe got a lot bigger and it didn't retain its former mindshare. That definitely isn't a detraction to Java, it's still a big deal. The same fate - or worse - has happened to all popular languages, without exception.

CoastalCoder 3y ago

I'm surprised this is just occuring to me now, but is Java the next COBOL?

adamc 3y ago
So old that by 2010 there were memes about it... IIRC.
nradov 3y ago
In a sense, yes. That has been a common observation in the industry for years. Java will probably remain the dominant language for business applications for several more decades at least. It probably won't be displaced until the next major disruptive innovation in hardware platforms, to quantum computing or whatever comes next.

neilv 3y ago

When I first saw it, Java was aspiring to be the language of the Web (and set-top boxes). And it could've been (not the applet plugins that the browser vendors temporarily permitted, but more like HotJava, ubiquitous computing, etc.). If Java was intended for enterprise (MIS programmers), they wouldn't have made it look like C. And despite Java's pivot to enterprise, Microsoft was still able to get people to re-up for their over-the-barrel backstabbings, to adopt .NET. I know Java is big in enterprise, but IMHO it's a fall from what it could've been.