Java is fifteen years old. It started life as an alternative to C++ with a compr

Question

Java is fifteen years old. It started life as an alternative to C++ with a comprehensive standard library. Riding on the coattails of the Internet boom, it was popular for writing web applets. Its supposed portability was touted as a way to write desktop apps that would run on any platform.

Now it's 2010. Applets are long gone. Desktop apps are giving way to web and mobile apps. Scripting languages are very popular, as is Flash, especially among web-centric developers. People have been chanting "Java's death is near" for several years.

Yet a quick job search shows that Java is still a desired skill among programmers. So what is Java used for these days? What kinds of apps are you writing in Java? This should give us an idea of the "state of Java" today. Has the Java tide shifted from Swing desktop apps to Android mobile apps?

If you write programs in a JVM language (such as Scala or Groovy), mention it.

Explanation / Answer

Serverside
Java (J2SE/J2EE/JEE) has been the mainstay of Server Side development for enterprises and will probably continue to do so for some time.

Why?

1.) Enterprises like stability. Java's been given a lot of stick recently for lacking certain language features and not breaking with the past. To be blunt, my Investment Bank client Loves that stability.

2.) The JVM is an incredibly powerful and flexible runtime platform and niche languages (ducks for cover) such as Groovy, Scala and Clojure can solve difficult problems (functional mathematics anyone?) while being completely interoperable with Java and its vast numbers of libraries.

Desktop
Java on the desktop? Hmm, not so much and I think JavaFX has come to late too the party - time will tell

Mobile
Java in the mobile space? J2ME runs on a surprising number of devices, but the reality is that shiny smartphones are the way of the future, so that means at this stage Android. Unfortunately this is under a lawsuit cloud so we'll have to wait and see about Java's future here.

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