"Gosling and Java are Just Leftover Garbage"
I'm sort of grateful that I didn't learn Java. It's under the leadership of frozen cavemen:
PHP and Ruby are perfectly fine systems but they are scripting languages and get their power through specialization: they just generate web pages.
He then dismissed C# as having had potential, but no longer: "We were afraid [Microsoft] were going to do something really creative - but they're hopelessly focused on one platform."
Wow. Has James Gosling read anything in the past 3 years?
Ryan Tomayko has a more thorough takedown of Gosling's strange assessment of Java's positioning.
Gosling's assessment of Java's position isn't strange. In summary, he is saying that Java is well positioned as a general-purpose, multi-platform language with a good balance between power and simplicity.
Didn't see the interview (video stream is broken), but, aside from saying that Ruby is a specialized web page generating language, the quotes from Gosling are largely accurate:
* PHP really doesn't really see much action, outside of generating web pages.
* Microsoft is hopelessly focussed on one platform. Mono is nice, but the IP situation and paucity of libraries makes it a definite second runner to a JVM in most situations.
* Java does indeed strike a balance between power and simplicity. It sits squarely between C++ and Smalltalk.
* And, most importantly, Java is under no genuine threat from PHP, Ruby or C#. Even if every single kewl-kid, trend-setting uber-hacker dropped Java from their toolbox, Java would still continue to grow in corporations, which is where the bulk of programming is done.
I'd agree that Gosling's assessment of Ruby's position is strange. Even so, I still maintain, "Ruby is ready for the enterprise, but the enterprise is not ready for Ruby."
Posted by: Alan Green on March 13, 2006 9:10 PM | permalinkAG:
It's not about velocity; it's about acceleration. Gosling isn't supposed to be focused on where we've been, but where we're going.
"Ruby is ready for the enterprise, but the enterprise is not ready for Ruby."
Isn't that what they said about Java ten years ago?
Posted by: Joe Grossberg on March 14, 2006 1:27 AM | permalinkA little embarrassed to have such an obnoxious post on the public web?
So much for reasoned discussion. I guess you must have issues.
Why don't you look at some graphs of language usage, and also look at the momentum of java today, which continues to be astonishing. Granted, it needs consolidation, but java is so big there are numerous phps and rubys contained in it.
Aren't you brave by not signing your name?
What you cite as a plus is one of the huge problems with Java. There are a million ways to build and serve web applications, all of them bad.
And the headline is a quote.
Posted by: Joe Grossberg on January 12, 2007 12:18 PM | permalinkNo more comments! Either someone has violated Godwin's Law, I'm tired of the discussion or, most likely, the ten-week window has closed. You can, however, contact me through email.