What is Java used for these days?
- by Barry Brown
Java is fifteen years old. It started life as an alternative to C++ with a comprehensive standard library. Riding on the coattails of the Internet boom, it was popular for writing web applets. Its supposed portability was touted as a way to write desktop apps that would run on any platform.
Now it's 2010. Applets are long gone. Desktop apps are giving way to web and mobile apps. Scripting languages are very popular, as is Flash, especially among web-centric developers. People have been chanting "Java's death is near" for several years.
Yet a quick job search shows that Java is still a desired skill among programmers. So what is Java used for these days? What kinds of apps are you writing in Java? This should give us an idea of the "state of Java" today. Has the Java tide shifted from Swing desktop apps to Android mobile apps?
If you write programs in a JVM language (such as Scala or Groovy), mention it.