Java's necessary future

Now that Oracle has purchased Sun, we have a large cloud of uncertainty for the future of Java. Will Oracle keep Java, or will it kill it off? Several key Java folks have left Oracle, pursuing other projects, and Oracle has a reputation of dropping technologies that have no direct affect on the bottom line. (Although one has to wonder why Oracle, a database company, chose to purchase Sun, a hardware company that happened to own Java and MySQL. Purchasing Sun to get MySQL seems to be an expensive solution, one that is not in Oracle's usual pattern.)

Java is an interesting technology. It proved that virtual processors were feasible. (Java was not the first; the UCSD p-System was a notable predecessor. But Java was actually practical, whereas the earlier attempts were not.) But Java has aged, and needs not just face-lift but a re-thinking of its role in the Oracle stack.

Here's my list of improvements for "Java 2.0":

- Revamp the virtual processor. The original JRE was custom-built for the Java language. Java 2.0 needs to embrace other languages, including COBOL, FORTRAN, LISP, Python, and Ruby.

- Expand the virtual processor to support functional languages, including the new up-and-coming languages of Haskell and Erlang. This will help LISP, Python, and Ruby, too.

- Make the JRE more friendly to virtualization environments like Oracle VM, VMWare, Parallels, Xen, and even Microsoft's Virtual PC and Virtual Server.

- Contribute to the Eclipse IDE, and make it a legitimate player in the Oracle universe.

Java was the ground-breaker for virtual processor technologies. Like other ground-breakers such as FORTRAN, COBOL, and LISP, I think it will be around for a long time. Oracle can use this asset or discard it; the choice is theirs.