The book club discusses "Beyond Java"

The Book Club forum is kicking off a lengthy discussion of Bruce Tate's Beyond Java, a book that's already prompted responses from java.net bloggers (including John Reynolds, Vikram Goyal, and Fernando Lozano). The book's premise is that while Java has been a breathtaking success - even re-defining what it means for a computer language to be successful - that it has reached the limit of what it can achieve in many important ways, and that innovation is starting to occur outside of the Java realm.

We're going to discuss one chapter per week, by opening a new thread for each chapter. This first week is an exception, though, since the introductory chapter is short and largely exists to introduce the broad themes and ideas of the book. So, we've launched threads for chapters 1 and 2.

The discussion of Chapter 1: Owls and Ostriches begins:

Chapter 1 establishes the pros and cons of keeping your head in the sand, ignoring what's going outside of Java. It argues that when a language is in its prime, this is perfectly appropriate, even beneficial, as it's better to spend your time with the language du jour than to look for alternatives. But when a language starts to show signs of wear, it's time to start looking for alternatives. Is it time? The chapter uses the analogy of boiling a frog, which doesn't even realize it's boiling until it's too late.

The next thread, Chapter 2: The Perfect Storm, discusses the perhaps inevitable rise of Java:

Chapter 2 begins "To know where Java is going, you've got to know where it came from. You need to remember the conditions that caused us to leave the existing dominant languages in droves. You must understand the economic forces that drove the revolution. And you cannot forget the sentiment of the time that pried so many of us away from C++, and other programming languages for the Internet." It argues that Java benefitted (and propelled) a number of important trends: OOP, backlashes against Microsoft and C++, programming for the Internet. It also talks about the tremendous amount of Java open source development, arguing that it is the open source developers who are driving innovation in the Java space. Whatever comes next will have to learn from Java: "Java completely rewrote the rulebook defining what it takes to be a commercially successful programming language."

If you want to participate but haven't bought Beyond Java, or if you're not sure you want to, you can try before you buy with the java.net Online Books service, Safari Bookshelf, which offers a 14-day free trial. Once you've joined, you can read Beyond Java online.