Someone tell governments to quit using Java already. It's pathetic that most of Canada's online systems for public use (e.g tax filings) require Java.
Exactly, the problem is more about how Java tends to be applied, rather than the language itself, it's a utility and application language, certainly, but it lacks the low-level access required to make certain kinds of systems safe. Instead people have to rely on available resources from Oracle, which are not designed to be used at this kind of level.
Java is to languages what Mario is to computer games, it's fun, it's perfectly acceptable for any age or level of skill, and it's friendly. But it's also terribly 'innocent'. Oracle had a dream of a big, happy user-base all exchanging ideas and code, but caught on a bit late that things like Applets and RMI relied too heavily on everyone playing nice.
What I won't agree with, though, is that Java itself is '****'. It isn't, it's not suited to every job and it has criticism, some well deserved others not so, of the memory management system it uses. But it produces some perfectly good code, and teaches at least as many good programming practices as bad ones, which is no more than you can say of any other language, it depends largely on the coder themselves.
I know a lot of advanced programmers consider Java 'lightweight', sort of like the modern day version of BASIC, and in some ways the comparison sticks, but the language itself is still a powerful one at its core, it's just that Oracle need to be more aware of potential risks in their code extensions.
