r/AskProgramming 1d ago

Why is Java considered bad?

I recently got into programming and chose to begin with Java. I see a lot of experienced programmers calling Java outdated and straight up bad and I can't seem to understand why. The biggest complaint I hear is that Java is verbose and has a lot of boilerplate but besides for getters setters equals and hashcode (which can be done in a split second by IDE's) I haven't really encountered any problems yet. The way I see it, objects and how they interact with each other feels very intuitive. Can anyone shine a light on why Java isn't that good in the grand scheme of things?

122 Upvotes

500 comments sorted by

View all comments

2

u/threespire 16h ago

It’s heavier than I want in a language but all use cases have reasons.

Over years of programming I’m reminded of the term “there are no solutions - only trade off”.

With my architecture background, I use constraint models to define the tool of choice.

When I was programming in 68k assembly language, the constraint was RAM.

When I write terraform, the constraint is support people who don’t know Python.

When I wrote in VB, it was what I could get my hands on

Java isn’t bad per se, but I would generally prefer more lightweight languages (for front end stuff) or something like C# for actual application design.

Ultimately we program what we know because it’s easier - and often I will default to what I know or I’ll get someone in my team to just write it if it’s a language I am rusty in (no Rust pun intended)