I’m a Java/Scala/Groovy guy, that’s not a mystery. Some people, especially the youngsters, roll their eyes when they learn about it. Old fashioned, ineffective when compared to modern languages, and doomed — that’s basically what I hear all the time. But is that really the case?
Old Fashioned
Yes, the base constructs and constraints that Java offers are old fashioned and rely on how code was written 20 years ago. Programming languages are not created in a sterilized bubble. Developers’ habits and needs are central to language design, and while inventors try to infuse innovation into it, it’d be dumb to ignore how people will actually use it. The first milestone for Java dates back in 1995, and while some of its foundational blocks looked visionary for at least 10 years, it is pretty obvious that
29
24 years later… not so much.