Java turns 30 next week (May 23). Its creator is James Gosling.

• Gosling's journey from a resourceful Canadian teenager to a pioneering programmer offers insights into computing's evolution.

James Gosling:

• He's the "Father of Java" with an ability to simplify complex concepts.

The Path To Programming:

• Growing up with little money, he built his first computer from a relay rack.
• A tour of the University of Calgary's computer center hooked him.
• He taught himself programming by dumpster diving for punch cards.
• His early programming experiences included working with various systems like IBM mainframes and PDP-8.

Academia to Industry:

• His perspective on academia is straightforward.
• He worked at IBM Research and later at Sun Microsystems.

The Sun Days:

• Sun was known for its legendary April Fool's pranks.
• Gosling was involved in creating elaborate pranks at Sun.

Java:

• Gosling is proud of creating Java and is satisfied with its impact.
• He reflects on Java's evolution and mentions features like lambdas.
• He assesses Oracle's stewardship of Java as better than expected.
• Java has become suitable for cloud environments with improvements in various areas.

Beyond Java:

• After Sun's acquisition, Gosling worked at Google and Liquid Robotics.
• At Liquid Robotics, he worked on environmental monitoring.

On Open Source and Industry Trends:

• He observes the evolution of open source and its different models.
• Skeptical of the "low code, no code" trend.
• Critical of AI and ML terminology and their hype.

Developer Tools and Preferences:

• Gosling uses NetBeans IDE and is frustrated with those using outdated tools.

The JVM Vision:

• The concept of the Java Virtual Machine originated during his graduate studies.
• It has become a foundational technology.

More Recent Work:

• At AWS, he worked on Greengrass for IoT applications.
• He also worked on another AWS project related to software development tools.

AI Skepticism:

• He views the AI revolution as mostly a scam.
• Critical of venture capitalists driving AI hype.

AI Coding Tools:

• Acknowledges their initial impressiveness but highlights limitations.

Java's Evolution:

• Recognizes valuable language enhancements but emphasizes runtime improvements.

Programming Languages for Critical Infrastructure:

• Advocates understanding the problem domain before selecting a programming language.

The Future of Programming in an AI World:

• Believes programming remains an essential skill.
• Dismisses claims that AI will reduce the need for engineers.

Java's Longevity Secret:

• Solves real problems, respects users, maintains backward compatibility, etc.

Oracle's Stewardship:

• Gives Oracle a "B+" for its stewardship of Java.

Crab Lovers Unite!

• Gosling likes to work with people he can have dinner with.
• He and the author have a connection over crab at a restaurant in San Francisco.