Well I don't totally disagree with you - I found the register article to be lightweight and not fully considered - almost to the point of unconscious(?) self-ridicule - if the cloud is what you define it to be, Oracle can define it on their own terms.
Neither do I take the James Gosling comment as gospel. After all, by itself it is just a statement about one person's current point of view. A bit like me saying "I've really gone off my Ford Focus". It might be true for him, it doesn't mean it applies to everybody. My neighbour loves her new Focus, after all. For me it was simply that scanning the El Reg article and re-reading the Gosling comment (which is hardly new) made me think about my own point of view and how it has changed. Java isn't irrelevant, but the last time I was looking for a contract I saw a lot more clients: - expecting XP and Agile methodologies (previously this wasn't so important) - looking for functional experience, or people who could pick it up quickly. Especially in the consultancy space. I saw the same thing with JSF a few years ago. For a long time JSF was around but not being used, then 2007/8 that picture changed dramatically. I'm not predicting another shift anytime soon, but functional languages are making inroads in the enterprise. On 30 Jun 2011, at 12:38, Fabrizio Giudici wrote: > On 06/30/2011 01:08 PM, Phil wrote: >> I think this (albeit lightweight) article on The Register adds some >> food for thought: >> http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/06/30/java_misses_the_point_under_oracle/ >> >> I think the article's premise is right. Java has fallen too far >> behind. Freeze the language spec at Java 7 and focus on the JVM and >> functional languages. > Sorry if I'm going to be really harsh, but it's my character. I must say I > have a strong prejudice against general media, as I don't trust them when > they talk about the Big Bang, the Shuttle, or the latest fuel-cell > technology. Figure it out when they talk about software. But I think I can > work against my prejudices and I admit I could find a good article about > software, after all. But when I find an inception such as: > > > > "Oracle's roadmap for Javas 7 and 8 shows it recognizes the world is pulling > away and leaving Java with last-century concepts and ideals. Java 7 is meant > to set the foundation for a cloud-friendly platform, but the real cloud-ready > features won't make an appearance until Java 8 in 2013 at the earliest. > > While Larry and company can't be blamed for the years of stagnation suffered > by both the platform and language under Sun Microsystems, the problem faced > isn't that Java lacks the technology to work nicely in the cloud: the problem > is, as ever, one of perception. > > Java is either not "enterprise" enough for cloud computing – apparently > lacking the required widgets – or it's too enterprisey and therefore not cool > enough to join the likes of Ruby and Python." > > > > "The world is pulling away?" Yeah, look at Tiobe. And what the heck is saying > about the cloud? What's a "widget" for the cloud? Sorry, I won't read it > further. > > So, back to us. Ruby and Python and Groovy and all the dynamic languages are > where they were a few years ago and the respective communities was claiming > that they were going to take the world by storm. Scala is definitely the most > interesting stuff (not by chance, is statically typed), but it's still 0.xx% > of share. Let's see whether it grows. > > So, what are we talking about? > > And, pardon me, why a supposedly objective and scientifically-attituded > community should still comment Gosling's points as he's a sort of prophet? > > > > Coming to Groovy, since we're talking about personal experience. It has been > the first language I started seriously studying and practicing a couple of > years ago, not for replacing Java but because I was curious to see whether it > could solve some DSL-like tasks. For me it has been a total delusion. Useless > even in parts that it was supposed to be helpful. At present time only a few > lines of Groovy survive in a Maven plugin for building an Android project, > but just because I didn't find the time to replace it with a simpler solution. > > Of corse, this is subjective and I'm totally sure that many guys are doing > very smart things with Ruby, Groovy, and what else. And that they're better > at it than with Java. Fine. Just don't call yourself "the world". > > -- > Fabrizio Giudici - Java Architect, Project Manager > Tidalwave s.a.s. - "We make Java work. Everywhere." > java.net/blog/fabriziogiudici - www.tidalwave.it/people > [email protected] > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "The Java Posse" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/javaposse?hl=en.
