# Why is Java so popular?



## StumpedTechy (Jul 7, 2004)

As a support technician I have to wonder why is Java so popular? I find again and again large companies that invest in applications written that require Java but then find that you have to mesh all these different versions of JRE in there just to get everything in working correctly.

As a matter of fact with Java 5.0 and 6.0 this is now introducing problems with our older Java based applications.

I understand Java is just a langauage to develop with but I have problems with the fact that Java gets updated/changed so frequently and that older Java based apps unless modified to work with the newer versions.

As an example currently on a machine I have Java 1.4.2_03, 1.4.2_06, 1.4.2_08, 1.4.2_12 and now they want to add Java 6 update 2 but it is causing a ton of error messages with the applications that require 1.4.2_03.

I just don't see how developing an app for a single version of java is any better than developing an app in say C and just deploying all the needed files directly to the PC?

Please don't turn this into a flame war or think i am trying to rip on java. I would just like to be enlightened as to rationale.


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## Chicon (Jul 29, 2004)

StumpedTechy said:


> ... it is causing a ton of error messages with the applications that require 1.4.2_03. ...


Hi StumpedTechy,

Just by curiosity, are you running some application server like BEA WebLogic on the computer ?


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## Arcadion (Sep 2, 2004)

You're right, that is pretty messed up. The whole point of Java is that it's meant to be portable between different platforms, but it isn't even portable between different versions of itself.


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## tomdkat (May 6, 2006)

StumpedTechy said:


> As a support technician I have to wonder why is Java so popular? I find again and again large companies that invest in applications written that require Java but then find that you have to mesh all these different versions of JRE in there just to get everything in working correctly.


Java is popular because of: 
Platform independence (to some degree)
Functionally rich APIs available for the environment (e.g. EJB, Web Services, etc)
Sound object-oriented foundation
Some of the deployment issues you raise relate more to _how_ some Java apps are developed moreso than there being issues with the Java "platform" itself. The fact you are still supporting Java 1.4 environments means you're having to support some really outdated Java environments and I would look to the Java application vendors as to why they rely on such outdated Java environments.

Believe me, I feel your pain.  My former company developed a Java applet that I converted to also run as a Java application. This was back when Java 2 first came out and the Java plug-in was very new. Back then, the plug-in was avaiable for Windows (mostly) and Solaris (I think) but not for AIX or HP-UX, which were two platforms we needed our Java "fatlet" to run on. So, on Windows we could run the applet in our browser through the Java plug-in and on AIX or HP-UX, we *had* to run it as an application because the plug-in wasn't available. Of course, this was in addition to the LATEST Java environments NOT being available for AIX or HP-UX like they were for Windows and Solaris, which presented problems for us since we really didn't establish a baseline requirement for a Java environment sufficient to support our "fatlet" (which is a fat applet  ).

In the business arena, I think Java is popular because of the functionality the Java platform *can* provide along with not being "bound" to an all-Microsoft solution to whatever business problem on the table.

Peace...


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