Re:Functional programming is not popular because it is weird...
by coldtea on Tuesday September 14, 2021 @09:21AM
(#28524358)
>Java was the only way to write applets and code for feature-phones early on.
That's not how it got its popularity. Applets died very soon (the novelty lasted like 1-2 years), and feature-phone apps were never a big thing. Unlike e.g. mobile apps that quickly overtook the desktop, feature-phone J2ME apps at the time were a peanuts business (and there were other ways, like native APIs from Palm, Blackerry, and Windows mobile edition - of yore, not their post-iPhone smartphone OS).
Java, even back in 2000, was big in the enterprise space and remained so (which is why Sun quickly emphasized that and let the applet sdk languish).
That's not how it got its popularity. Applets died very soon (the novelty lasted like 1-2 years), and feature-phone apps were never a big thing. Unlike e.g. mobile apps that quickly overtook the desktop, feature-phone J2ME apps at the time were a peanuts business (and there were other ways, like native APIs from Palm, Blackerry, and Windows mobile edition - of yore, not their post-iPhone smartphone OS).
Java, even back in 2000, was big in the enterprise space and remained so (which is why Sun quickly emphasized that and let the applet sdk languish).