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Quite surprised by the negativity towards Java in this thread about Sublinks, a Java-based Lemmy alternative. Is it that bad? (programming.dev)

submitted 10 months ago by [email protected] to c/java

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Link to the thread: https://programming.dev/post/8969747

Hello everyone, I've followed this thread yesterday and noticed a few very negative reactions towards the choice of Java. I follow Java evolution from far away, but it seemed like it was evolving in a good direction since the last few years, and that performance-wise it would make sense for the back-end of a Lemmy-like platform.

Is it indeed the case? I was just curious to see that much negativity towards one of the most popular languages.

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I'm not a programmer, but I'm interested in your opinion. Could you explain why modern java is exciting in relatively layman terminology?

[–] [email protected] 6 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

I guess Java saw the writing on the wall and shifted into high gear. The rate of language development has shot up. Check out all these changes to the language.

I get the sense that the people who think these out are smart and deliberate. I like deliberate.

And there's more coming. Value classes (custom, compound primitives is my understanding) is only one example. The fact that that document even exists is exciting to me. I like reading the instruction manuals for my tools!

The standardized documentation, the culture, the tools, the libraries. After stumbling around C++ all of that was a breath of fresh air. Java is a joy for me. I've been doing it since the 1.1, 1.2 days.

And so y'all know, right now I'm being paid to write Kotlin. I fully intend to integrate its styles and idioms. I get why people like it. Every now and then I do go, "Huh. That's neat." I'd still pick Java over it if I were given a choice. But I gotta pay the bills.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Boimler's great, but right now you sound like Rutherford. I mean that in the best possible way.

As I started before, I don't really get programming, but your enthusiasm for java is evident, and I find that delightful.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 10 months ago

I'll take the compliment, thank you!

When I do it on my terms, yes, I do enjoy Java in particular and programming in general. A lot. At a certain level it's not complicated or mystical at all. All you're really doing is simple math (adding, subtracting, etc) on numbers, bunching them into representations that make sense for your problem (how a point is an x coordinate and a y coordinate, for example), moving little arrows that point to said representations, etc. You combine these very simple primitives into a predictable system that solves whatever you're working on. Yeah, you do have to be able to abstract this in your brain. Pictures on paper helps sometimes; I do that myself.

I come in with a maintainability mindset. I enjoy writing simple, to the point, straightforward code that most importantly, I can read and understand in 10 years. Java's "verboseness" is a feature in that respect. Have you tried maintaining someone else's Kotlin? Forgetaboutit.