Why Java is seeing its final days.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it

again: I hate Java! It’s clunky and (like Flash, another thing I’m not a huge fan of) takes special add-on software to use (JRE and Java Applet Plugins and Flash Player, respectively).

But thankfully, it’s [in my prediction] not here to stay much longer for most things. It will be replaced by AJAX and server-side scripting. We already can use Ruby (usually with Rails), we’ve been able to use Perl, and of course Python. More and more desktop programming languages are moving to the Web. AJAX makes these respond just like normal desktop apps…stealing Java’s job like an illegal alien stealing a mechanic’s.

As I walked through Barnes & Noble (at a Harry Potter release party), I noticed many Ruby books and then I was amazed: Ajax on Rails (O’reilly). It got me thinking: by using Ruby on Rails, PHP, or any number of server-side languages, and AJAX, you can replace Java.

No, really, think about it! Google Apps are made with AJAX. A full word processor and spreadsheet program in a browser? Before AJAX and Web 2.0, it could only be done in Java. What about Flickr? And even WordPress? As I type this, it’s saving it for me. Dynamically, with AJAX.

All thse previously would have been done with Java, wouldn’t they?

It’s food for thought. Unless Sun redoes Java making it less, well, overcomplicated, then they’re going to lose the market.

Admittedly, many things simply cannot be done with AJAX and SS languages. One such example is Runescape (by JaGeX “Java Game eXperts). But, for the majority of web apps from word processors to drawing programs (case study: favicon.cc) are AJAX-based.

And it’s only going to grow.

Yours in predictions,

Sam