Is Java Losing Its Mojo?

Java is on the wane, at least according to one outfit that keeps on eye on the ever-changing world of computer programming languages.

For more than a decade, it has dominated the Tiobe Programming Community Index — a snapshot of software developer enthusiasm that looks at things like internet search results to measure how much buzz different languages have. But lately, Java has been slipping. In fact, it’s been overtaken by the C programming language — a 40-year-old dinosaur that’s still popular with Unix developers and people who develop software for simple embedded systems like DVD players or alarm monitors.

“C is not number one because it is rising, but it is because Java is falling down,” says Paul Jansen, managing director with Tiobe Software, writing in an e-mail interview. Jansen’s company compiles the programming index.

According to Jansen, Java — once the hottest of the programming languages — took a serious detour when Oracle bought it, along with its creator-company, Sun Microsystems, three years ago.

Sun was a hotbed of engineering innovation, but at Oracle, the numbers guys rule the roost, meaning less breakthrough technology and more high-profile lawsuits.

That means that Java has stagnated in recent years. “When Oracle took over Sun, some important Java language specialists left Sun as a protest. Apart from that a lot of prominent Java evangelists disapproved the takeover and started to promote other languages,” he says. “But the most important reason is that the language hasn’t changed since Oracle took over Sun in 2010 (except for some very small details).”

Java’s creator James Gosling may have fled Oracle, but Java isn’t exactly down for the count.

Google’s Android operating system has given it a rebirth with an entirely new developer community — coders who are building mobile apps for Android. In fact, with the runaway success of Android has helped buffer Java’s decline in other areas, such as enterprise applications.

On top of that, there is also a whole new generation of languages that have sprung up over the past few years that run on top of the Java Virtual Machine — the software that actually runs a Java program on your computer or mobile phone.

These languages, with names like Clojure, Scala, Jython, and JRuby are among the most popular languages with tech-savvy developers today says Rick Ross, the founder of Dzone, a community website for software developers.

So even if Oracle isn’t really driving things forward, Java will be around for a long time.

“It’s flourishing so widely and in so many places and ways that it’s well beyond the control of any company or organization,” Ross says. “It’s not very hard for a Java guy to get paid these days anywhere to you want to go,” he adds. “I think that’s a really powerful indication of something that’s quite strong and valuable.”