If Google decided to turn Android around and use, say, Go, as its main development language, do you think there would be many new developers willing to learn Java?
As it is now we are already at a point not that many people are willing/eager to learn Java. Push it further and it becomes COBOL.
It's not about what Google did. It's about whether it benefits the Java ecosystem or not.
There is no shortage now, but every segment where Java ceases to be a viable option is one less reason to learn it. If Google decides to move on to something else, less people will be interested in learning Java, which was the original point of this discussion: whether Google's use of Java was beneficial to Sun and Oracle. Oracle's decision to sue indicates Google's use of Java was, somehow, detrimental while I have a strong impression it's the exact opposite: Google kept Java viable in mobile computing and Oracle benefits from the network effects. J2ME is not a credible revenue source these days.
For the last couple years, all Java code I wrote was intended to run on Android devices. If it weren't for Android, I'd have no reason whatsoever to bother doing it.
> J2ME is not a credible revenue source these days.
You mean Bluray licenses, Smart cards, embedded devices, car infotainment systems, radio controlled temperature meters, factory assembly line controllers .... ?
> For the last couple years, all Java code I wrote was intended to run on Android devices. If it weren't for Android, I'd have no reason whatsoever to bother doing it.
I take you don't work in the enterprise world, then.
> You mean Bluray licenses, Smart cards, embedded devices, car infotainment systems, radio controlled temperature meters, factory assembly line controllers .... ?
Do you have the numbers? For me, smartcards excepted, all those things based on J2ME are on their way out.
As it is now we are already at a point not that many people are willing/eager to learn Java. Push it further and it becomes COBOL.
It's not about what Google did. It's about whether it benefits the Java ecosystem or not.