Java Programming Language - Is it losing popularity?

Java’s future is on the wane – this is what experts as well as surveys are predicting about one of the world’s most popular software development languages. It is suggested that almost around three billion devices still run on Java. However, in the recent times, it has been at the receiving end of the users majorly due to its security issues. However, there are many reasons why it is preferred by the programmers during software development. There might be trouble in deciding its future owing to the business model promoted by Oracle but it is still a long way before the language completely ceases to exist.

One of the primary reasons why Java is considered useful is because it is an impressive server side language. For implementing infrastructure several big companies are still using it into their data centers and then integrating them to the mainframe and all other kinds of devices. This programming language has a well defined technology and backed by some of the most well known software companies in the world, like, Oracle and IBM. These companies still have a stronghold over the software market. Moreover, people who are looking to build systems with simple architecture definitely prefer this language. For instance, while developing a reservation system for the railways, Java will have complete edge over other software development languages, like, Python.

Java is a dynamic language. This factor makes it extremely popular with the developers who can create cross platform applications with it. There are end numbers of open source frameworks on which it can work efficiently as well as smoothly. In addition to this, Java is not only a language but it is also a platform. It is a perfect platform on which dynamic languages like Scala, Goovy and Ruby could easily run. Thus, if the programmers want to include dynamic languages in the infrastructure, now they can do it without a worry. The popularity of the handheld devices is also adding to the usability of Java. For the back-end applications, this is irreplaceable. The Android systems support Java and there is no escape from it when it comes to your smartphones. As a browser plugin, it might have lost its place but it is essential when it comes to Android development.

So what are the reasons for losing its popularity? Well, there are several reasons that are working against this software development language. In a world where technology is constantly being updated, Java does not receive frequent updates. Users do not update it even after the release of a new version. In more corporate set-up, the system admin might update but this rule does not apply for individual user devices.

Secondly, departing from Sun Microsystems also proved detrimental for the language. At Oracle there is lesser number of breakthrough and innovative technologies. The company has been struggling visibly with providing swift updates and fighting the security vulnerabilities. These problems occur when there is stagnation and not much has changed in this language since 2010. While it is lagging behind without new and innovative features, a host of new languages are ready to take its place. Python, C++, C#, Ruby and many more are gradually capturing the software development market with developers preferring the new versions over the older models.

Java did lose a significant number of followers in the past but to say it has completely lost its place would be an exaggeration. Rather, with the dominance of the cell phone usage, it has found its lost ground to a large extent. Google’s choice has provided a new lease of life to the waning popularity of Java. In addition to this, Oracle is putting in all the efforts to pep it up with new versions and other important releases. To conclude, it is still here to stay. You can get in touch with Java web application development companies who can help you develop web apps that are stable, scalable and secure.

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Servlet in Java - Features and Upgrades

For creation of dynamic web content, Java has a powerful as well as efficient solution in the form of Servlets. Within a short time span it has become a fundamental block for building of server-side Java. It uses Java as platform to interact with Servlet container. The developer is also provided with object-oriented programming, robust API, strict types, platform neutrality along with all JVM security features. Since its inception it has seen several upgrades. The most recent upgrade is from 2.5 to 3.0. There are rumours of a release of 3.1 version but nothing has been specified as yet. Till then, some of the features and upgrades of the current version has been described here.

Pluggability along with extensibility- These days there are several kinds of web frameworks being used for building of web applications. However, it is not easy to integrate them into web applications since various kinds of pieces must be assimilated together to edit single descriptor file which describes the fitting of the pieces. There are several issues in this regard which can now be easily resolved by virtue of this Servlet version. Now using as well as configuring any framework is really easy through modular web.xml or web fragments which need no configuration.

Easy development- Any technology is marked by the fact whether the development is easy or not. The API of the related technology here makes it easy for development through use of several brand new annotations. They have been defined in a way that allows writing a Servlet without the need of a descriptor. The annotations can be found in javax.servlet.annotation package. In fact, this addition has made it possible to ignore web.xml when there are ServletContectListener, Servlet amd Filter in a single war file. In all, the programming has become declarative-style, resulting in swift development of filter class or servlet through appropriate class annotations.

Security- Now methods to allow programmatic logout and login have been integrated through HTTPServletRequest. A login can be forced through ServletRequest as well. A request’s authentication state can be reset by the logout method without the bounding of authentication to some HTTPSession.

Asynchronous support- Asynchronous processing addition is often reckoned as the biggest change. At some point or the other, all developers have had to face the slow pace of the technology, specifically in those cases where a waiting time is involved for web service, JMS service response, etc. With the addition of support to suspend and resume request processing, the servlet can now process a request in non-blocking asynchronous manner. This feature helps in receiving or sending of unblocked data from client despite slow data. Delayed requests, responses can be handled as well. Even in case of non-blocking or blocking events, it can notify.

Dynamic or programmatic HTTP session configuration- Through this configuration an application can modify session configuration while still in use through API method calls or web.xml file configuration. There can be no changing of a cookie name that has been dynamically modified. The default cookie path can be changed for every application.

Some miscellaneous upgraded features- Besides the really important upgraded features mentioned above there are some other mixed bag add-ons worth mentioning which have made developer experience better and data retrieval easier. Some new convenience methods have been added to ServletRequest so that instances connected with the requested object can be got easily. Cookies can also be marked as HttpOnly ones which are unexposed to scripting code of client-side that helps prevent several kinds of cross-site scripting attacks. This feature is supported by majority of modern browsers.

These upgraded features are no doubt aimed to make the experience of using Java Servlets an easier as well as efficient one. It has improved the entire development experience by multiple times. Now it remains to be seen what other enhancements will be offered n the soon-to be released version. You can get in touch with Java software development companies who can help you develop web apps that are stable, scalable and secure.

We provide Java web development services. If you would like to hire Java developers India for your development needs, please contact us Mindfire Solutions.