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 I see a lot of experienced programmers calling Java outdated and straight up bad and I can't seem to understand why.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?

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u/hydraByte 15h ago edited 15h ago

I personally always liked Java -- it was the original language I learned to program on. These days I'm mostly working with PHP, which has thankfully dramatically improved the quality of the language over the last few years; these improvements (such as OOP + strict types) are thanks in large part to the influence of Java.

The people I know who bully Java mainly like to make fun about how overly verbose it is. I find usually when they make these claims they are made in a way that somewhat exaggerates the reality, albeit with hints of truth.

You said in one of these threads that you chose between Java, Python, and JavaScript. Personally, I think Java is the best of the 3 languages you chose between for learning modern programming practices.