Java

since 1995 (earliest usage recorded on this site was 1985)

Java is a programming language originally developed by James Gosling at Sun Microsystems and released in 1995 as a core component of Sun Microsystems' Java platform. The language derives much of its syntax from C and C++ but has a simpler object model and fewer low-level facilities. Java applications are typically compiled to bytecode (class file) that can run on any Java Virtual Machine (JVM) regardless of computer architecture. Java is general-purpose, concurrent, class-based, and object-oriented, and is specifically designed to have as few implementation dependencies as possible. It is intended to let application developers "write once, run anywhere".

more info

Users

Technology Timeline Graph

1985

1986

1987

1988

1989

1990

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

2023

2024

empty

abtin

avowkind

ndw

liza

ubersoldat

boutell

edd

jancona

rmp

adamv

coordt

kan

notanumber

Cema

johnny723

ironfort

givas

wilane

hexdump42

kevinpet

AndyC

David

jorjun

jtauber

growe

jeffself

bkmontgomery

danceswithvowels

kovacs

douglasstarnes

patricktaylor

mrtrosen

zellyn

bg4

frankwiles

vitaliyf

ericflo

reed

jefftriplett

LorenDavie

mmai

madewulf

BitWise

Erik

drakkos

randombit

brucehoult

undoingemptyvoid

jasonb

shiny

mpirnat

thraxil

dabeaz

carljm

sceptreofjudah

mdridley

fdrake

sbastn

r1chardj0n3s

zeroaltitude

RCARDENES

CerealBoy

binarydud

bangroot

nsmgr8

twhitton

jdunck

joemcmahon

otherchirps

Josh

jcarbaugh

jackboot7

adityo

pydanny

z3d

mgrbyte

maxlynch

sanchom

luchak

bitprophet

soryu2

dmnd

bhaugen

duke_sam

UloPe

enki

brettsky

thumper

tpherndon

paltman

eddymul

shywolf9982

ntoll

alecperkins

fogus

takitimu

andropov

orestis

brosner

SeanOC

nnrcschmdt

audreyr

rizumu

mallipeddi

honzakral

lukeman

sfaruque

yawmark

ghoseb

Jenni

james

eykd

cagedmantis

esevland

Sitwonade

cstejerean

daniellindsley

metavida

sjaekel

vrejohanian

shaung

timus

eculver

jkocherhans

barneyboo

Sitwon

rragan

andyrak

qwertymz

jmillikin

dublindan

cpharmston

bkokash

ravigupt

ch0llima

bkopanja

smalltobi

msnaith

sdhamilton

GordyBrow

whaley

nullomodo

myles

Vector

kratorius

collypops

mwalling

adamcik

milouse

ssbr

wladston

NX172

skyl

brixtonasias

stevejohnson

CrociDB

quakehead

anoop

dan

b3ng0

brutasse

chrisbrett665

moriogawa

sbaydoun

akgerber

krisse2

Da_Nuke

tr00st

mccolgan

devien

rrainey

larry

threefjefff

d3f3nd3r

perimosocordiae

gregmuellegger

bmaxwell

Maradatscha

brousch

bkad

isardana

ranman

gabrielrios

matteo

Kami

fisadev

aaront

rilt

amackera

nightfly19

DataShed

skytreader

gklein

Kanru

gnubardt

dekz

Swizec

jah

MichaelTran

ellisonleao

teo

janewilson90

filipe_mp

PaulM

bkonkle

mhh91

alexsuraci

joshontheweb

adambrenecki

MarkofCain

branesks

mgill25

kok

angelausy

ukazap

empty - 2 years

abtin - 37 years

avowkind - 35 years

ndw - 32 years

liza - 16 years

dl - 31 years

ubersoldat - 31 years

boutell - 4 years

edd - 30 years

jancona - 30 years

rmp - 30 years

adamv - 4 years

coordt - 16 years

kan - 30 years

notanumber - 29 years

af - 29 years

Cema - 29 years

johnny723 - 5 years

ironfort - 29 years

givas - 3 years

wilane - 29 years

hexdump42 - 29 years

kevinpet - 29 years

AndyC - 29 years

David - 29 years

jorjun - 3 years

jtauber - 13 years

growe - 29 years

jeffself - 7 years

bkmontgomery - 10 years

danceswithvowels - 1 years

kovacs - 10 years

douglasstarnes - 28 years

patricktaylor - 6 years

mrtrosen - 28 years

zellyn - 11 years

bg4 - 28 years

frankwiles - 1 years

vitaliyf - 27 years

ericflo - 27 years

reed - 27 years

jefftriplett - 5 years

LorenDavie - 10 years

mmai - 8 years

madewulf - 27 years

BitWise - 27 years

Erik - 27 years

drakkos - 27 years

randombit - 8 years

brucehoult - 27 years

undoingemptyvoid - 12 years

jasonb - 12 years

shiny - 26 years

mpirnat - 2 years

thraxil - 26 years

dabeaz - 1 years

carljm - 1 years

sceptreofjudah - 2 years

mdridley - 3 years

fdrake - 2 years

sbastn - 26 years

r1chardj0n3s - 3 years

zeroaltitude - 26 years

RCARDENES - 26 years

CerealBoy - 26 years

binarydud - 9 years

bangroot - 26 years

nsmgr8 - 4 years

twhitton - 26 years

jdunck - 26 years

joemcmahon - 12 years

otherchirps - 3 years

Josh - 5 years

jcarbaugh - 7 years

jackboot7 - 25 years

adityo - 25 years

pydanny - 7 years

z3d - 1 years

mgrbyte - 25 years

maxlynch - 25 years

sanchom - 25 years

luchak - 25 years

bitprophet - 4 years

soryu2 - 3 years

dmnd - 6 years

bhaugen - 3 years

duke_sam - 6 years

UloPe - 24 years

enki - 24 years

brettsky - 8 years

thumper - 4 years

tpherndon - 2 years

paltman - 3 years

eddymul - 23 years

shywolf9982 - 5 years

ntoll - 23 years

alecperkins - 4 years

fogus - 23 years

takitimu - 23 years

andropov - 23 years

orestis - 6 years

brosner - 23 years

SeanOC - 6 years

nnrcschmdt - 23 years

audreyr - 2 years

rizumu - 1 years

mallipeddi - 22 years

honzakral - 3 years

lukeman - 3 years

sfaruque - 22 years

yawmark - 22 years

ghoseb - 22 years

Jenni - 22 years

james - 22 years

eykd - 2 years

cagedmantis - 21 years

esevland - 3 years

Sitwonade - 21 years

cstejerean - 21 years

daniellindsley - 2 years

metavida - 3 years

sjaekel - 4 years

vrejohanian - 21 years

shaung - 4 years

timus - 3 years

eculver - 6 years

jkocherhans - 2 years

barneyboo - 21 years

Sitwon - 21 years

gg - 3 years

rragan - 21 years

andyrak - 21 years

qwertymz - 20 years

jmillikin - 5 years

dublindan - 6 years

cpharmston - 1 years

bkokash - 4 years

ravigupt - 20 years

ch0llima - 20 years

bkopanja - 4 years

smalltobi - 2 years

msnaith - 20 years

sdhamilton - 20 years

GordyBrow - 20 years

whaley - 20 years

nullomodo - 20 years

myles - 20 years

Vector - 2 years

kratorius - 20 years

collypops - 20 years

mwalling - 20 years

adamcik - 20 years

milouse - 4 years

ssbr - 4 years

wladston - 1 years

NX172 - 19 years

skyl - 1 years

brixtonasias - 19 years

stevejohnson - 19 years

CrociDB - 19 years

quakehead - 2 years

anoop - 5 years

dan - 19 years

b3ng0 - 19 years

brutasse - 19 years

chrisbrett665 - 19 years

moriogawa - 19 years

sbaydoun - 19 years

akgerber - 19 years

krisse2 - 19 years

Da_Nuke - 19 years

tr00st - 19 years

mccolgan - 19 years

devien - 18 years

rrainey - 18 years

larry - 18 years

threefjefff - 18 years

d3f3nd3r - 18 years

perimosocordiae - 18 years

gregmuellegger - 18 years

bmaxwell - 18 years

Maradatscha - 18 years

brousch - 3 years

bkad - 18 years

isardana - 18 years

ranman - 18 years

gabrielrios - 1 years

matteo - 18 years

Kami - 18 years

fisadev - 1 years

aaront - 18 years

rilt - 18 years

amackera - 17 years

nightfly19 - 2 years

DataShed - 17 years

skytreader - 17 years

gklein - 17 years

Kanru - 17 years

gnubardt - 17 years

dekz - 17 years

Swizec - 17 years

jah - 17 years

MichaelTran - 17 years

ellisonleao - 17 years

teo - 2 years

janewilson90 - 1 years

filipe_mp - 16 years

PaulM - 1 years

bkonkle - 1 years

mhh91 - 16 years

alexsuraci - 1 years

joshontheweb - 1 years

adambrenecki - 1 years

MarkofCain - 15 years

branesks - 1 years

mgill25 - 1 years

kok - 1 years

angelausy - 12 years

ukazap - 1 years

empty

1985–1986

Early adopter, met James Gosling when he released it and threw it out about as quickly. Not intellectually interesting at all.

abtin

1988–

avowkind

1990–

I remember thinking how this new fangled VM version of C++ was going to gain mindshare but being annoyed that they made so much of it being a Virtual machine, I had been using virtual machines on Forth forever. Still the main tool today.

liza

1993–2008

Started with Applets when in alpha, then large server-side projects, then started own company to avoid ever using it again.

ndw

1993–

1994–

ubersoldat

1994–

What puts food in the table.

edd

1995–

First used it to write an advent calendar, with parallax snow and flying Santa

jancona

1995–

I started using Java in late 1995, before Java 1.0 was released.

kan

1995–

boutell

1995–1998

Oh, client-side Java, how you broke our hearts. Those very long, very public lists of bugs that Sun just... sat on... from browser version to browser version. Those APIs that called to you, then dashed you on the rocks of platform incompatibility. It wasn't an impossible problem. You just didn't want to pay for an adequate staff of competent Mac and Windows GUI developers. You also let Microsoft hoover up all the good JIT compiler guys, with the end result that the fastest Java implementation ever belonged to your arch-nemesis. I'm still ticked about this.

rmp

1995–

Actually built a fairly rich business app with 1.0_final in AWT. It's been my professional bread and butter language since then

coordt

1995–2010

Still do occasional things in Java

adamv

1995–1998

jtauber

1996–2008

jorjun

1996–1998

Bought ££ heaps of the books, jumped over numerous buggy implementation hurdles. Missed out on the massive corporate jobs bandwagon.

AndyC

1996–

Still using it, my favorite language so far as it's so clean. I even wrote a book on it published 1997

jeffself

1996–2002

Started playing with Java when I heard about it. Greatest language ever until I got sick of the cruft involved.

1996–

Java saved me from Pascal. True story.

growe

1996–

I would guess I've written more in Java than any other language, and I started using it very soon after it came out. Even written 3 books on it. Despite its limitations, it is still a very good language for writing solid OO code, and its vast user base means a solution to almost any problem is easily available.

wilane

1996–

I'm kinda pierced by design, seldom doing it now

Cema

1996–

Occasional user. Standard edition as well as mobile (J2ME).

johnny723

1996–2000

It was "the" language used in almost all computer science courses during my undergraduate studies. It was JDK1.1.8 at that time.

1996–

1996–

1996–

1996–

1996–1998

1996–

1997–

A necessary evil sometimes, while working for corporations who haven't discovered python!

zellyn

1997–2007

Aah, the bad old days…

danceswithvowels

1997

Took a class in it. Mildly amusing, but no beans.

bkmontgomery

1997–2006

I learned OO concepts and wrote my first OO programs in Java, though I haven't really done anything significant since 2006.

bg4

1997–

Started using Java in university data structures course, use it daily for datafeed applications.

kovacs

1997–2006

patricktaylor

1997–2002

Mostly with WebObjects

douglasstarnes

1997–

The first language (outside of BASIC) I ever learned. Found a bargain book bin and Java was the only programming language book so that's what influenced my decision. I rarely use Java today.

LorenDavie

1998–2007

My main language for a long time. Coded Java in Toronto, Montreal, Palo Alto and NYC.

madewulf

1998–

A necessary evil.

jefftriplett

1998–2002

I had a class in college and then I was tasked with switching my web team to Java for three months simply to switch back to .net... Grr

drakkos

1998–

Learned in university, and it became my first language after prolonged exposure. Wrote a couple of texts on the subject which are freely available at http://www.monkeys-at-keyboards.com

1998

1998–

1998–

1998–

Got hired on a short term contract to do C++ programming, arrived and was told I'd be doing Java instead. Hilarity ensued. Later helped write a static compiler for J2ME.

reed

1998–

Developed applets for graphing on the web.

randombit

1998–2005

mmai

1998–2005

BitWise

1998–

A good language spoilt by an excess of competing incompatible frameworks.

Erik

1998–

nsmgr8

1999–2002

Forcing class does not make a program Object-Oriented!!! I am never going to touch it again.

carljm

1999

Bought a book because it seemed obvious it was "the next thing to learn" after C/C++, but never even finished the book.

sbastn

1999–

The current language that gets me a paycheck. It's a love-hate relationship. Love how I can test, refactor and move code around quickly. Hate how much typing I have to do to get things done.

zeroaltitude

1999–

Love/hate relationship with Java. Comparing it with Python, it's too ponderous (though I don't really mind type-checking). On the other hand, there's a certain slice of cool stuff you can do both on the client- and server-side that keeps me writing Java.

CerealBoy

1999–

Was painful in the beginning. Is now better, but still painful.

undoingemptyvoid

1999–2010

Bored with it... used to love it.

jasonb

1999–2010

work horse

shiny

1999–

please don't tell my friends i know this

joemcmahon

1999–2010

Geo-selection applet for a NASA earth-science search engine. Used on and off up to the current day (last used it fiddling with Hudson plugins).

dabeaz

1999

Used Java in the first course I taught as a university professor (Internet Programming). Hated it--maybe because I was already well into Python.

jdunck

1999–

After Micrografx came Picasso, a little consulting startup. It was a sweatshop, but everybody there was better than me by a mile. I learned a lot -- CSS under the 4.x browsers, more VB, some Java. (Slight detour: learning CSS this early led me to css-discuss ( http://archivist.incutio.com/viewlist/css-discuss/?search=jdunck ) , where I went from novice to expert in about a year by answering other people's questions. I became familiar with Simon Willison through that, and became aware of Django through him.) Java -- like C++ but not broken by design, with garbage collection and a fairly sane type system. But slow. And what's the deal with these applet things? And networked coffee pots? Really?

twhitton

1999–

I learned Java in college and never used it again until recently. Now I use it daily to write software for mobile phones. It's full of ceremony, hard to love, and klunky as hell, but it gets the job done. For a taste of real pain, try Java Lite (J2ME) instead of the full flavored Java 6.

mdridley

1999–2001

RCARDENES

1999–

binarydud

1999–2007

I escaped.

r1chardj0n3s

1999–2001

2 years too much. Ugh. All that unnecessary typing!!!

1999–2000

1999–2000

1999–

1999–2000

1999–

2000–2002

2000–2006

Over time I became more and more unhappy with coding Java and thought it was my career. Then I found Python and realized it was the language.

jackboot7

2000–

sanchom

2000–

This was the language in my university introduction to computer science. The textbook included sentences like "a floppy disk is a form of storage". I've coded a few larger projects in Java. One in 2007, and one at Google in 2010. Maintaining that old 2007 project is the closest I get to Java these days. I don't know what reflection is.

2000–

2000–

2000–

2000–2004

Used it a lot in college, haven't touched it since.

jcarbaugh

2000–2006

Started using Java in college. Then spent several years as a contractor writing software for the US government. I also wrote operant chamber control software for my wife's master's thesis. Pigeons pecked at a touchscreen to receive pellets of food as a reward.

z3d

2000

mgrbyte

2000–

Used to like it until I really got into Python. Then when it got generics, I picked it back up for a while, but I still don't like it very much.

paltman

2001–2003

tpherndon

2001–2002

Java was the language used for teaching programming in school. Hated every minute of it, but was pleased to be able to make something useful with it. Dumped it quickly for Python.

duke_sam

2001–2006

Started in college, was forced to keep using it for a year in work. Summed up with the words "Do not want".

bitprophet

2001–2004

Language of choice at my university. Really wish they'd used a Python => C => C++ progression instead.

soryu2

2001–2003

Loved it back then in University, coming from Delphi. Don’t like it now, after years in “scripting” languages. Feels so overblown and clunky.

brettsky

2001–2008

Learned for my data structures undergrad course.

dmnd

2001–2006

thumper

2001–2004

Another work language. Good to branch out.

bhaugen

2001–2003

Working for a British business transaction software company.

enki

2001–

UloPe

2001–

shywolf9982

2002–2006

Started using it in University. Showed me how important interfaces (formal or not) are, and how good it is not to deal with pointers.

ntoll

2002–

Learned it during my MSc. Only recently used it in anger for Android development.

alecperkins

2002–2005

High-school computer science classes. Haven't used it since.

fogus

2002–

takitimu

2002–

Used for redoing server at work, in conjunction with Eclipse. Love the blocking queues.

andropov

2002–

orestis

2002–2007

brosner

2002–

Messed around with Java during high school. Nothing serious. It helped me understand OO programming at the time. Used it during first computer science courses of college. Today I've used it to tinker with Android.

2002–

2002–2007

2002–

2003–

2003–2005

Started in school, used it for one personal project and then rewrote it in python

lukeman

2003–2005

rizumu

2003

Took one semester of Java, I didn't really enjoy the projects much, so I wasn't inspired.

2003–2004

2003–

2003–

2003–

Learnt Java as a freshman in college.

2003–2004

2003–

2003–

2004–

2004–

Was taught it without being taught it in high school, but formed the basis of introduction to OO at uni. Totally competent language, can't fault it, but would never use it to write a GUI app - eek. Little bit attracted to exploring its servlet capacity a bit more though...

sjaekel

2004–2007

metavida

2004–2006

Learned it in college for my programming classes.

vrejohanian

2004–

oooo.... JAVA.... MY LOVE!

2004–2006

2004–

2004–2005

2004–2009

2004–

2004–2006

2004–

2004–

2004–2006

2004–2007

2004–2005

2004–

2005–

University mandated first language. Would have had a better grounding if they didn't teach it using BlueJ. Still have bad memories of JSP *shudder*

cpharmston

2005

Computer Science 101. Never again.

adamcik

2005–

University mandated first language. Currently don't mind Java that much, but the "light" frameworks are pain.

qwertymz

2005–

Started at uni. Liked the application in JSP. Used it commercially mainly for unit testing. Experienced in it, but not a language I'd use voluntarily.

kratorius

2005–

nullomodo

2005–

GordyBrow

2005–

Started programming in Java at university. To this day it is my most used language.I've programmed everything from artificial neural network based systems to visualization tools in Java. My day job currently involves a lot of Java programming.

sdhamilton

2005–

First university taught programming lanaguage, run to it when I want something that will run a UI everywhere. Which is rare, tend to write web services these days.

msnaith

2005–

My language of choice for any implementation work. Very clean and no having to worry about memory management.

ch0llima

2005–

The first language we were taught on the first year CS course at St Andrews. I'm still amazed at how many highly intelligent people just didn't understand basic OO concepts, and ended up dropping computing entirely.

dublindan

2005–2010

jmillikin

2005–2009

Started learning it in school, ended up using it a bit in my first job for data visualisations and charts. It's just C++ with padding placed on some of the nastier spikes.

bkokash

2005–2008

First OOP programming language that I learnt

ravigupt

2005–

bkopanja

2005–2008

smalltobi

2005–2006

Used it extensively in my diploma thesis.

whaley

2005–

Learned for grad school and every job after my first. Used for my master's thesis also. I still like it and it enables me to win some bread.

myles

2005–

Vector

2005–2006

Started with this language in college and come back to it every now and then.

2005–

2005–2008

2006–

2006–

Started using it at university and now use it on a daily basis for work. Still like it.

2006–

2006–

2006–

2006–2009

2006

couldn't get my university to use Python. Took a class, did play assignments.

2006–

2006–

2006–

2006–

2006–

2006–

I love it and hate it same time. Java programmers always look to me as slow giants. The language has a high learning curve but with unlimited capabilities.

anoop

2006–2010

Da_Nuke

2006–

Was taught this one on OOP class. It's clunky and I fucking hate having to catch all and every single exception (to the extent that I have no qualms with doing the ultimate sin of surrounding everything with a big-ass "try-catch", but it does the job when doing larger programming projects where you have no time to worry about memory management :3

quakehead

2006–2007

Too many redundant libraries and long names!

2006–

2006–

2006

2006–

2007–

2007–

2007–

Learned in school. It's a neat language but you have to write so much nonsense to get anything done in it. Played with japplets and some android apps

threefjefff

2007–

Learnt basic OOP concepts in Java (using the BlueJ IDE/teaching environment) and it still feels like a hamstrung language to me.

devien

2007–

i quite liked using this; easy to understand, lots of resources available to help you, never really gone into gui's with it though

isardana

2007–

First learnt it in 1st year, and now its alongside C as the most frequent language I use. Clean syntax, extensive support in the form of libraries and highly portable. Building a GUI is a bit confusing at start and its the one thing C# is better at.

gabrielrios

2007

Used at some college class, hated it.

Maradatscha

2007–

fisadev

2007

Started to learn it, but stopped because don't like it.

aaront

2007–

It's OK.

perimosocordiae