The Failed Promise

My dislike for C++ is well-known by those who know me.  As is my lack of fondness for Perl.

I have a new one though.  Java.  Oracle and Apple have conspired to kill it.

(I should say this much -- its been a long time, about a decade, since I developed any Java code.  Its entirely possible that I remember the language with more fondness than it truly warrants.  C++ was once beautiful too -- before ANSI went and mutated it beyond all hope back in 1990 or thereabouts.)

Which is a shame, because Java started with such promise.  Write-once, run-anywhere.  Strongly typed, and a paradigm for OO that was so far superior to C++.  (Multiple inheritance is the bane of semi-competent C++ engineers, who often can't even properly cope with pointers to memory.)

For years, I bemoaned the fact that the single biggest weakness of Java was the fact that it was seen as a way to make more dynamic web pages.  (I remember HotJava -- what a revolutionary thing it was indeed.)  But even stand-alone apps struggled with performance (startup times were hideous for anyone starting a Swing app.)

Still, we suffered because of the write once, run-anywhere promise was just too alluring.  All those performance problems were going to get solved by optimization, and faster systems.  And wasn't it a shame that people associated Java with applets instead of applications?  (Java WebStart tried to drive more of the latter, which should have been a good thing.)

But all the promise that Java seemed to offer is well and truly lost now.  And I don't think it can ever be regained. 

Here's a recent experience I had.

I had reason to go run some Java code to access an IPMI console on a SuperMicro system.  I don't run Windows.   The IPMI console app seems to be a mishmash of Java and native libraries produced by ATEN for SuperMicro.  Supposedly it supported MacOS X and Linux.

I lost several hours (several, as in more than two) trying to get a working IPMI console on my Mac.  I tried Java 7 from Oracle, Java 6 from Apple, I even tried to get a Linux version working in Ubuntu (and after a number of false starts I did actually succeed in the last attempt.)  All just to get access to a simple IPMI console.  Seriously?!?

What are the problems here?

• Apple doesn't "support" Java officially anymore.
• Apple disables Java by default on Safari even when it is installed.
• Apple disables Java webstart almost entirely.  (The only way to open an unsigned Java webstart file -- has anyone ever even seen a signed .jnlp?) is to download it, and open it with a right-click in the finder and explicitly answer "Yes, I know its not from an approved vendor, but open the darn thing anyway.  Even though Java also asks me the same question.  Several times.)
• Oracle ships Java 7 without 32-bit support on Macs, so only Safari can use it (not Chrome)
• Oracle Java 7 Update 51 has a new security manager that prevents most unsigned apps from running at all.  (The only way to get them to run at all is to track down the Java preferences pane and reduce the security setting.)
• Developers like ATEN produce native libraries which means that their "Java" apps are totally unportable.

All of this is because people are terrified of the numerous bugs in Java.  Which is appropriate, since there have been bugs in various JVMs.  Running unverified code without some warning to the end-user is dangerous -- really these should be treated with the same caution due a native application.

But, I should also not have to be a digital contortionist to access an application.  I am using a native IPMI console from an IP address that I entered by hand on a secured network.  I'd expect to have to answer the "Are you sure you want to run this unsigned app?" question (perhaps with an option to remember the setting) once.  But the barriers to actually executing the app are far too high.  (So high, that I still have not had success in getting the SuperMicro IPMI console running on my Mac -- although I did eventually get it to work in a VM running Ubuntu.)

So, shame on Apple and Oracle for doing everything in their power to kill Java.  Shame on ATEN / SuperMicro for requiring Java in the first place, and for polluting it with native code libraries.  And for not getting their code signed.

And shame on the Java ecosystem for allowing this state of affairs to come about.

I'll most likely never write another line of Java, in spite of the fact that I happen to think the language is actually quite elegant for solving OO programming problems.  The challenges in deploying such applications are just far too high.  In the past the problem was that the cost of the sandbox meant that application startups are slow.  Now, even though we have fast CPUs, we have traded 30 second application startup times for situations where it takes hours for even technical people to get an app running.

I guess its probably better on Windows.

But if you want to use that as an excuse, then just write a NATIVE APPLICATION, and stop screwing around with this false promise of "run-anywhere". 

If a Javascript app won't work for you, then just bite the bullet and write a native app.  Heck, with the porting solutions available, it isn't that much work to make native apps portable to a variety of platforms.  (Though such solutions necessarily leave niche systems out in the cold.  Let's face it, the market for native desktop apps on SPARC systems running NetBSD is pretty tiny.)  But covering the 5 mainstream client platforms (Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Linux) is pretty easy.  (Yes, illumos isn't in that list.  And maybe Linux shouldn't be either, although I think the number of folks running a desktop with Linux is probably several orders of magnitude larger than all other UNIXish platforms -- besides MacOS -- combined.)

And, RIP "write once, run-anywhere".  Congratulations Oracle, Apple.  You killed it.