2018-02-05

The "Java is dying" tale

And there was it again... - somebody (in a Java group - strange enough) told that Java is dying. Uff! - I hear this for years now - and it gets annoying to hear or read this again and again (of course of the people who don't like - or simply don't know Java).

Nevertheless, Java ranks within top 3 programming languages on whatever index you look!
But probably you should also consider, where you live, because there are statistics over countries which shows that most important language depends on country - e.g. here:
https://blog.hackerrank.com/which-country-would-win-in.../ (Java is there first for Poland, Python for Hong Kong for example).


Oh - this article (even if older) already talks about the Java is dying tale: https://jaxenter.com/java-slippery-slope-downward-trend...


What makes Java still a very important language and still very attracting for newbies, is the wide field of usage - from desktop over web and not finished at mobile development. Especially when searching for a first language to learn which can be used to do it all.

Another fact is, that there are many open jobs (at least here in Austria) for Java Developers at the moment - so knowing Java currently helps if you need a new job...

Related posts: The programming language discussion, Java vs .net/C#, Choosing a programming language, The programming language, Popular Java myths.

2 comments:

Byron Goodman said...

Java's new pricing model is going to have a big impact on Java. The costs associated with Java will mean organizations will start migrating to less expensive alternatives, or even free alternatives.

Oracle became very greedy. I've never met anyone that bought an Oracle product that didn't regret it.

Martin Wildam said...

I agree with you that Oracle is a pretty greedy company. But remember what happened with OpenOffice when they tried to be evil. OpenOffice was forked overnight and became LibreOffice. And LibreOffice is the standard now.

On the other hand I see Microsoft as much more greedy - just see how they make you pay. They make you pay even when they decide to check your company if you have enough licenses!

Please keep in mind, that Java 11 is already to come and honestly I do not find it that evil, if you want support for a pretty old version (of any software) that you need to pay a fee. In comparison many other companies force you to update (and of course pay for that) to a recent version and you have no option to continue running on a non-supported version any more!

Please compare the Oracle behaviour with what are doing other vendors (even those with far less market share adopt Microsoft like behaviour in many cases). Remember that recent versions of Java are still free! Compare to Windows where companies pay for it and users still see advertising in their start menu...

From https://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/terms/license/index.html
you can see:
2. LICENSE TO USE. Subject to the terms and conditions of this Agreement including, but not limited to, the Java Technology Restrictions of the Supplemental License Terms, Oracle grants you a non-exclusive, non-transferable, limited license without license fees to reproduce and use internally the Software complete and unmodified for the sole purpose of running Programs. THE LICENSE SET FORTH IN THIS SECTION 2 DOES NOT EXTEND TO THE COMMERCIAL FEATURES. YOUR RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS RELATED TO THE COMMERCIAL FEATURES ARE AS SET FORTH IN THE SUPPLEMENTAL TERMS ALONG WITH ADDITIONAL LICENSES FOR DEVELOPERS AND PUBLISHERS.

Regarding the commercial features that are mentioned above see
https://docs.oracle.com/javase/8/docs/technotes/tools/enhancements-8.html - they must be enabled on runtime. And ok, in the free version you do not get everything and this applies to pretty all free stuff these days.