The Unbearable Uncoolness of Java
This weekend I played with Docker to better understand this technology and this was quite fun. Interesting how we focus our energy on solving symptoms instead of addressing the root problem. But I deviate.
What actually shocked me was the current standing of Java in this world, many devops seem to hate Java with a vengenance. After trying to create a Docker image with Just Java, I can (partially) see their point. Java sticks out like a (very) sore thumb in the Linux landscape. Virtually everything can be installed with all different package managers until you hit Java, then suddenly you need a click-trough license (except for some reason when you download for the Mac, there downloading is sufficient to accept the license). But the frustration is not limited to not being able to automate an install, it is actually not that hard to bypass, just ugly. It is the whole experience. Just compare the Python, Ruby, Go, and node.js website with the java download ordeal, which even includes a nice 404 now and then. Also Eclipse, despite it new look, feels like it lost a lot of steam in the past years.
It hurts to say, but Java looks stuffy and tired …
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We have the surreal situation that Java is by far the most advanced software development environment in our universe. We have amazing tools like Eclipse, Hotspot, based on an incredibly mature environment. We have at our disposal a humongous repository with libraries. It actually has a really good module system. Java is used to build gigantic applications of sizes that most other environments can only have nightmares off. Every day Java is involved in moving around trillions of dollars. Untold number of developers use it day in day out. There is just nothing out there that can handle the size of large systems Java can.
I know, any technology that is actually solving real problems becomes complex over time and Java is no exception. I also know that sometimes you need a clean break to get rid of the scar tissue or parts that proved unnecessary but I do not see anything on the language horizon that is providing anything fundamentally better than Java 8. If Go is as successful as Java it will become as complex as Java. Most often advantages are synthetic sugar or only work for specific problems. Overall Oracle is doing a pretty decent job keeping this technology up to date. That said, they really need to rethink their position in the computing landscape, especially in the server area. However, Java surely has a very long life ahead of it.
That said, it would be a lot more fun if Java looked more like a sexy 20 year old instead of a stuffy octogenarian. Anybody any ideas?
Peter Kriens