Java Slide?
Interesting comments about Java from Josh Bloch, Google's Java architect - he says that there's no real direction, and licensing issues are starting to cause problems:
The problems around Java that Bloch mentioned largely predate Oracle's acquisition of Sun Microsystems, which oversaw the Java development process, and Bloch called on Oracle to step up as the prime steward of the language and associated platform software."Oracle should take the lead of Java once again," he said.
Over the last few years, Sun had been busy trying to find some way to make money - it doesn't surprise me that a money pit like Java development took a back seat. What will be interesting is Oracle's take. Oracle is profitable, and can afford to do whatever they want with Java - but just how much money do they want to shovel in that direction?
Oracle isn't without challenges of their own, with the rise of acceptable OSS databases - including MySQL, which they own (insofar as anyone can "own" a fully GPL product). I wouldn't be at all surprised to see continued drift, because I just don't know that Java's direction is all that crucial to Oracle's immediate future.
Comments
Re: Java Slide?
[Rob] April 15, 2010 14:00:02.924
I suspect that Oracle and Java's futures are tied together pretty strongly. To generalise:
* If you develop in the MS world you have better tool integration if you use SQLServer
If you develop in Rails/PHP/Perl you probably work for a smaller shop who can't afford Oracle
If you develop in C/C++ you're probably not a big user of SQL databases
If you develop in Smalltalk you've got more natural choices than Oracle.
Who, apart from corporate Java developers, is likely to use Oracle?
Of course, Oracle isn't just about the DB but it is as important to them as it has ever been.
Re: Java Slide?
[james Robertson] April 15, 2010 15:52:46.819
Actually, something like 80 percent of our customers use Oracle.