A lot of folks look at Sun’s “Java” engine as a most wonderful, empowering tool. I, however, shudder each time that little red coffee cup appears on my screen. Why do I react that way? It’s because in my experience, Java is problematic. There are tons of versions, none of which really are compatible with each other. Some products built on the platform require version X, and others version Y. Heaven help the poor soul who needs to run both of those products on the same box. A lot of web apps are java based. I go to fire up a web app, see the “coffee cup of death”, and my heart sinks, knowing that I have a 50% chance of achieving my goals, and a 50% chance of being frustrated for an hour or more while I troubleshoot this pathetic excuse for an engine. Some of the time, it just won’t work no matter what I do. I roundly curse the Java geeks, and find another way to achieve my goal.

So c’mon folks, let’s either put some caffeine into Java (Sun? Hello?), or quit using the stupid thing. Please! If more developers turned their back on the platform, it would probably get more attention by Sun. As tons and tons of people persist in using it, Sun has limited incentive to get this right.