Oracle, currently tweaking its plans for the future of Java, has been making some noise that it wants to reinvigorate the once-hot Java language and keep it open. New features of the soon-to-be-released Java 7 will include increased developer productivity, modularization, and support for more than 200 languages, according to Oracle.
Java 7 will, of course, be bigger than its predecessor — so the familiar complaint of bloat will certainly rear its ugly head. However, that bloat is a side effect of Java’s power, which has allowed it to become “the COBOL of the business world for the past 15 years,” according to Mike Rozlog, a developer with application tools maker Embarcadero Technologies.
In his DevX.com article, Herman Mehling discusses what lies ahead for Java under Oracle’s control with industry analysts and insiders such as Rozlog.