Re:Ask HN: Why does the enterprise have such a strong affini...
by mindcrime on Saturday July 26, 2014 @05:29PM
(#8090870)
Java got a couple of very important things right, at just the right time. And it tapped into some trendy / buzzwordy things at just the right time.
On the first point:
1. binary object compatibility. This was huge in a day when C++ and most other "cross platform" languages required you to ship libraries as source code, which bloated your code base and slowed down your compile times even further. Java nailed "library driven development" at a time when people were hungry for that.
2. Threading. Java's threading model is far from perfect, but it made using threads far more accessible, especially in a cross platform way, than what was previously possible in languages like C++ - especially while staying within the bounds of the language / standard library itself.
3. Garbage Collection - has it's pluses and minuses like everything, but a lot of C++ people who were tired of goofing around with manual memory management really embraced Java and it's simpler approach.
On point two above:
1. "Internet" programming. Java had good support for sockets and even basic HTTP stuff early on, and always seemed to do a decent to better-than-average job of supporting network programming (with a couple of glaring exceptions, like raw sockets)
2. "mobile code" - most people never wound up doing much with this, but it was trendy in the late 90's, early 2000's and Java was seen as a good platform for doing this stuff.
And probably some other stuff I'm forgetting. All in all, Java just did a nice job of hitting a good "sweet spot" at a good time and place. And that sweet spot was sweet enough to make it compelling, despite its warts.
On the first point:
1. binary object compatibility. This was huge in a day when C++ and most other "cross platform" languages required you to ship libraries as source code, which bloated your code base and slowed down your compile times even further. Java nailed "library driven development" at a time when people were hungry for that.
2. Threading. Java's threading model is far from perfect, but it made using threads far more accessible, especially in a cross platform way, than what was previously possible in languages like C++ - especially while staying within the bounds of the language / standard library itself.
3. Garbage Collection - has it's pluses and minuses like everything, but a lot of C++ people who were tired of goofing around with manual memory management really embraced Java and it's simpler approach.
On point two above:
1. "Internet" programming. Java had good support for sockets and even basic HTTP stuff early on, and always seemed to do a decent to better-than-average job of supporting network programming (with a couple of glaring exceptions, like raw sockets)
2. "mobile code" - most people never wound up doing much with this, but it was trendy in the late 90's, early 2000's and Java was seen as a good platform for doing this stuff.
And probably some other stuff I'm forgetting. All in all, Java just did a nice job of hitting a good "sweet spot" at a good time and place. And that sweet spot was sweet enough to make it compelling, despite its warts.