Java is back? Programming language trends for 2345 teams (opens in new tab)

(blog.helloworldopen.com)

44 pointsmikko-apo11y ago31 comments

31 comments

Java isn't back, it simply never went away - it's the modern Cobol. It's a good environment for backend development. Free if you need it, support if you want, no vendor lock-in, no platform lock-in, a vibrant open-source community - there's a lot to like about this old dinosaur!

mikko-apoOP11y ago

Actually back in 2012 Java wasn't that popular. Here's the language stats for the 200 teams 1.5 years ago:

  Ruby 28.4%  
  Python 27.5%
  Clojure 10.1%
  Java 9.2%
  CoffeeScript 8.3%
  Haskell 6.4%
  JavaScript 5.5%
  Scala 1.8%
  Go 1.8%
  Groovy 0.9%

This year Java rise and Ruby's drop are quite obvious when compared to the old stats.

simonb11y ago

Considering the difference in sample size and make-up, the latest results just show the competition is gaining broader appeal and with it more mainstream languages start to dominate.

thinkpad2011y ago

This is surprising. Your article portrayed Haskell as having gained a fair amount of ground, but actually it seems that it dropped in half or so.

nornagon11y ago

> describes haskell as having a "nice emphasis on functional programming"

understatement of the century

ninjazee12411y ago

Java is here to stay. We are a small startup, but I am building our entire backend in Java 8.

Edmond11y ago

definitely a smart choice...especially if you are thinking of something that can adapt to evolving technology, so far I haven't found a platform quite as flexible.

deerpig11y ago

Yup, following the herd is the best way to go. Especially if it means that everyone bigger than you can afford to hire the best and brightest at salaries you can't even dream of matching....

pathikrit11y ago

This is the language usage from latest Google Code Jam stats: http://www.go-hero.net/jam/14/round/0

Some observations: * C++ is the king. More people use it than next two (Java+Python combined)

* Although there were 20% more Java coders than Python coders, but 20% more Python coders qualified than Java coders.

Edmond11y ago

JVM languages would probably top such lists in coming years.

Think JRuby, Jython, Clojure,Javascript...etc and of course Java.

For anyone interested in trying these out, checkout HiveMind (crudzilla.com), I am the developer.

Sample screencast: http://crudzilla.com/assets/img/info-graphics/lang-demo.gif

tomjonesmi11y ago

What's the reason to use HiveMind over another solution?

Edmond11y ago

HiveMind is for building web apps, as opposed to being just a generic IDE.

You can read the docs or just download and try it out...there are a lot of interesting ideas implemented on the platform.

mrinterweb11y ago

The name of this article is definitely leading without context. For a competition that is focused on building a race car simulator, certain languages are going to be a better choice. If the competition was to build a web app, I'm pretty sure that C/C++ would not be high on that list, and Java would be ranked lower.

mikko-apoOP11y ago

Hi!

Unfortunately there's quite a bit of context behind those statistics that doesn't fit in to the title nicely.

I suspect that mentioning just HWO or Hello World Open or real time race car AI coding competition is not enough either. Do you have any suggestions on what would be a good title?

mrinterweb11y ago

Thank you for the emphatic greetings. Normally, when I see articles with similar titles, they are articles about general programming trends. I realize that HN does not like link submissions article names to be modified. Since the article is on a website about a race car AI contest, the website does not need to provide context in the article. I'm just saying that if I was skimming through HN articles and saw the article title, I may get the impression that Java is the new old hot again.

higherpurpose11y ago

Android...I'm still hoping Google will soon focus on Go and deprecate the usage of Java language for Android.

Iftheshoefits11y ago

Why would they deprecate Java? Especially why would they replace it with a relatively immature language and implementation? I'm not knocking Go--it is simply a fact that the language is immature still, just like every language that is relatively new.

BaconJuice11y ago

Is there a specific reason on why? Just curious?

Moru11y ago

The usual argument "You have to use the newest shiniest tech or you suck"

pnathan11y ago

I'm not an Android programmer, but I hear that the Dalvik-based Java is Java 6ish, and will likely stay that way, while Java (from Oracle) moves forward. Much bad has been said about Java 6. So from that perspective, one might hope for a change.

paukiatwee11y ago

Any reason why Go is better than Java on Android? Concurrency is the reason? I personally think Go is good for System Programming, e.g. Docker, GoRouter (Cloud Foundry), etc.

rakoo11y ago

I have a personal preference for Go over Java, but I'd say Go's big focus on concurrency is a big win for mobile , where you don't need to compute many things but need to react to many exterior stimuli.

melling11y ago

Should get faster binaries, thus better on the batteries. I think better compile times would help with the edit-compile-run cycle.

pmelendez11y ago

Another reason would be that JNI is horrible and if you need to mix your app with native code you are out of luck.

2 more replies

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31 comments

taylodl11y ago

mikko-apoOP11y ago

Actually back in 2012 Java wasn't that popular. Here's the language stats for the 200 teams 1.5 years ago:

  Ruby 28.4%  
  Python 27.5%
  Clojure 10.1%
  Java 9.2%
  CoffeeScript 8.3%
  Haskell 6.4%
  JavaScript 5.5%
  Scala 1.8%
  Go 1.8%
  Groovy 0.9%

This year Java rise and Ruby's drop are quite obvious when compared to the old stats.

simonb11y ago

Considering the difference in sample size and make-up, the latest results just show the competition is gaining broader appeal and with it more mainstream languages start to dominate.

thinkpad2011y ago

This is surprising. Your article portrayed Haskell as having gained a fair amount of ground, but actually it seems that it dropped in half or so.

nornagon11y ago

> describes haskell as having a "nice emphasis on functional programming"

understatement of the century

ninjazee12411y ago

Java is here to stay. We are a small startup, but I am building our entire backend in Java 8.

Edmond11y ago

definitely a smart choice...especially if you are thinking of something that can adapt to evolving technology, so far I haven't found a platform quite as flexible.

deerpig11y ago

Yup, following the herd is the best way to go. Especially if it means that everyone bigger than you can afford to hire the best and brightest at salaries you can't even dream of matching....

pathikrit11y ago

This is the language usage from latest Google Code Jam stats: http://www.go-hero.net/jam/14/round/0

Some observations: * C++ is the king. More people use it than next two (Java+Python combined)

* Although there were 20% more Java coders than Python coders, but 20% more Python coders qualified than Java coders.

Edmond11y ago

JVM languages would probably top such lists in coming years.

Think JRuby, Jython, Clojure,Javascript...etc and of course Java.

For anyone interested in trying these out, checkout HiveMind (crudzilla.com), I am the developer.

Sample screencast: http://crudzilla.com/assets/img/info-graphics/lang-demo.gif

tomjonesmi11y ago

What's the reason to use HiveMind over another solution?

Edmond11y ago

HiveMind is for building web apps, as opposed to being just a generic IDE.

You can read the docs or just download and try it out...there are a lot of interesting ideas implemented on the platform.

mrinterweb11y ago

mikko-apoOP11y ago

Hi!

Unfortunately there's quite a bit of context behind those statistics that doesn't fit in to the title nicely.

I suspect that mentioning just HWO or Hello World Open or real time race car AI coding competition is not enough either. Do you have any suggestions on what would be a good title?

mrinterweb11y ago

higherpurpose11y ago

Android...I'm still hoping Google will soon focus on Go and deprecate the usage of Java language for Android.

Iftheshoefits11y ago

BaconJuice11y ago

Is there a specific reason on why? Just curious?

Moru11y ago

The usual argument "You have to use the newest shiniest tech or you suck"

pnathan11y ago

paukiatwee11y ago

Any reason why Go is better than Java on Android? Concurrency is the reason? I personally think Go is good for System Programming, e.g. Docker, GoRouter (Cloud Foundry), etc.

rakoo11y ago

melling11y ago

Should get faster binaries, thus better on the batteries. I think better compile times would help with the edit-compile-run cycle.

pmelendez11y ago

Another reason would be that JNI is horrible and if you need to mix your app with native code you are out of luck.

2 more replies

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse