So you’re arguing we shouldn’t use any interpreted languages because they are less efficient during execution?
It’s always interesting to get other people’s opinions. 
As a long-time Java developer I’ve taken it for granted that Java was well respected.
But that’s all true for pretty much every language outside of C/C++ (and even they need standard libraries). .NET requires a large installation; it’s pre-installed on most Windows systems but that’s true for Java as well. Ruby and Python both require the interpreter to be installed. The JVM has a built-in compiler that will compile some code directly to the native assembler. I remember seeing studies that show the performance hit for Java to be minimal.
I use Java-only applications all the time. Eclipse and Squirrel SQL are written in Java and I’ve never had issues in portability (and I use them in all three OS’s). Eclipse, especially, is a heavy-duty application. A lot of languages have versions written in Java which makes them highly portable.
Just a quick note on when Java is needed: my parking meter pay pass thingy requires Java in order to update/add funds to the unit. :mad:
It’s kind of funny to read some of these opinions as well as things I read on other sites, here’s one: “Java is really just not worth having around any more. It is surprising how little it is actually used.”
As of March 2013, on both the Tiobe index and the PYPL index, Java is still #1.
It’s just that were it is most visible is where it performs worst – the stupid little applets that require the buggy plugin. To people who don’t do a lot of programming, that’s the only place they see Java. And certainly Java applets are not common any more (and were kind of terribad in the first place).
In the use cases where Java performs seamlessly, like inside mobile phones and on servers, as well as in some very-well-constructed desktop applications, the Java aspect is usually well-hidden.
I was surprised to hear this about Java, our workplaces uses it’s main software based on Java. Our payroll is another Java software program and our key systems use yet another Java software based system. I wonder how secure any of that actually is? Hmmmm.
There are several puzzles sites I used to visit daily that require Java. They still do. It’s been weeks since I removed Java from my computer because of the Homeland Security scare. I keep waiting for an “all clear” so I can get back to those puzzles.
Is it safe yet?
No. Install new streetlights in Jakarta and clean up the beaches.
The flaw in the browser plugin introduced kind of recently will probably take a while (year?) to be truly corrected, current fixes are quick fixes (based on what I have read).
Even more telling (to me) is that many languages are based on the JVM. For example, Scala is a language that gets compiled to Java byte code and runs on the JVM. There are versions of Ruby and Python, two popular languages, that run on the JVM.