Lightweight scripts bear down on Java ecosystem

In a recent report on the state of Java, IDC analyst Al Hilwa notes that the Java ecosystem is healthy and on a growing trajectory, with more programming languages than ever now hosted on the Java Virtual Machine (JVM).  Hilwa, program director for application development software at IDC, gives credit to Oracle for a mostly successful custodianship of Java, since its acquisition of Sun Microsystems two years ago.

There are some clouds on the horizon, as could be expected for a language and architecture that has been atop the heap of enterprise middleware for so many years. Writes Hilwa: “Java is under pressure from competing developer ecosystems, including the aggressively managed Microsoft platform and ecosystem and the broader Web ecosystem with its diverse technologies and lightweight scripting languages and frameworks.”

While looming lightweight languages, frameworks and runtimes do portend a new state of Java , Java’s ability to evolve to absorb new technologies has indeed proved remarkable to date. There is reason to believe there is still more to come.