Why Enterprise Chose Java

Why Java is chosen by enterprises

Historical Context

Initially developed by Sun Microsystems, Java was born out of an experimental project. The language, originally named Oak. was designed for use in embedded systems. However, the name Oak was soon found to be unsuitable for trademark protection, as it had already been used by numerous other companies. In a strategic move, Sun Microsystems renamed the language to Java, inspired by the coffee that the developers drank during their coding sessions. Java was then released for free online, and quickly gained popularity among developers.

Sun Microsystems recognized early on the commercial potential of Java. By promoting Java as a versatile and industry-standard language, Sun created a significant revenue stream from licensing fees, services, and software sales. The company also leveraged its hardware business by ensuring that Java was natively supported on its Solaris operating system. This synergy between Java and Solaris meant that Sun could market its hardware as “Java-compatible,” thus driving both software and hardware sales.

Furthermore, Sun’s promotion of Java as a language capable of running on any system, thanks to its “write once, run anywhere” capability, addressed a long-standing issue of software incompatibility across different platforms. This feature was especially appealing to enterprises, which often operate in diverse technological environments.

The introduction of Java EE (now Jakarta EE) in December 1999 was a pivotal moment, providing a comprehensive set of technologies and APIs designed specifically for large-scale, distributed, transactional, and mission-critical applications. This suite of tools further cemented Java’s place in the enterprise software world, offering a robust framework for developing and deploying complex applications.

Why Java is an Enterprise Programming Language

• Enterprise applications are rarely standalone; they often comprise multiple interacting systems that must communicate seamlessly. Java excels in supporting both synchronous and asynchronous messaging. The language natively supports communication formats such as XML, JSON, and Protocol Buffers (Protobuf), which are integral to facilitating data exchange between applications and services.
• With the growing trend towards web-based interfaces, enterprise applications need to provide robust web interactions. Java’s ecosystem includes extensive libraries and frameworks for developing web applications and web services. Technologies like JavaServer Pages (JSP), Servlets, and frameworks such as Spring and Jakarta EE (formerly Java EE) enable developers to create scalable and secure web applications, crucial for today’s browser-based enterprise solutions.
• Data is the backbone of enterprise applications, and the ability to interact with various databases is crucial. Java provides high-quality drivers for both relational databases (RDBMS) and NoSQL databases.
• Security is a critical concern for enterprises, and Java’s emphasis on safety helps mitigate risks. Unlike languages like C and C++, which are prone to memory management issues such as buffer overflows and dangling pointers, Java is designed to be memory-safe.
• Managing user access and authentication efficiently is vital for enterprise systems. Java integrates well with various authentication and authorization protocols, including LDAP, Active Directory, SAML, and OAuth. These integrations facilitate centralized management of user identities and permissions, streamlining access control across the enterprise.
• Java benefits from a large talent pool, as it is widely taught in academic institutions and has extensive community support. This widespread adoption makes it easier for enterprises to hire qualified developers and leverage the collective knowledge of a large Java community.
• Enterprises require the flexibility to host applications on various platforms, and Java’s “write once, run anywhere” principle plays a crucial role here. Java applications can be deployed across different operating systems and cloud environments, such as AWS, Google Cloud Platform, and Microsoft Azure. This flexibility allows businesses to select the most cost-effective and stable hosting solutions and adapt as their needs evolve.
• Ongoing maintenance and performance monitoring are critical for enterprise applications. Java supports a wide range of Application Performance Monitoring (APM) tools, including ElasticAPM and DataDog, which help in tracking application health and performance. Furthermore, Java’s static typing and compilation process make it easier to refactor code and identify issues before deployment, enhancing the overall maintainability of applications.
• Java boasts a rich ecosystem of libraries, frameworks, tools, and Integrated Development Environments (IDEs). This extensive support accelerates development processes and enhances productivity by providing developers with pre-built solutions and utilities.

Why Java and not C/C++

Even though C/C++ is considered faster than Java in almost every benchmark, Java is still more popular because:

• Java is easier to use. This results in shorter development time.
• Java is slower than C/C++, but still fast enough for most use cases. As most applications spend time waiting for I/O and network calls to finish, the run speed of a programming language isn’t a primary concern in most cases.
• Java is memory-safe, and doesn’t require memory management thanks to its garbage collector.
• Java is platform-independent. Thanks to the JVM, you can run Java software on various platforms.

=> For these reasons, Java gradually becomes a popular language, and is widely used among enterprises.

Citations

• BSCAL. “Sun Launches Promotion Of Java”, Financial Times Limited 1997, Nov 07 1997. Link
• Philip Elmer-Dewitt. “Why Sun’s Java is hot”, Time USA, January 22, 1996. Link
• Paul Pacheco. “What makes a programming language an enterprise programming language”, Quora, 2022. Link
• Joey DeFrancesco. “If C++ is faster than Java, how come Java is used in every enterprise application?”, Quora, 2020. Link
• Trausti Thor Johannsson. “If C++ is faster than Java, how come Java is used in every enterprise application?”, Quora, March 6, 2024. Link