
Ask HN: Are there any startups using Java? - BayAreaSmayArea
I don&#x27;t have enough insight into the larger startup world, but had this discussion with some coworkers and was curious of the HN opinion.<p>Are there any startups using Java, not the JVM, today? Say any in the last year or two of YC classes?<p>If so, and you&#x27;re at one of the startups, do you feel it has affected your ability to bring in development talent for the better or worse?
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Zigurd
First, almost all Android apps are coded in Java. But this is Java for heap
sizes in the 10s of MB. Java with a component model that aggressively claws-
back memory. Java with tasks that can wake up with a new PID. Java with RPCs
you actually would use. Java with a rich UX stack. Server Java brains have
evolved in a different direction.

Secondly, Google App Engine seems like a huge convenience for stuff that needs
to scale and teams that don't have time to spend on the scaling problem. I
don't hear much about it. I wonder why.

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sjg007
Sssh...it's a secret.

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kdrakon
I realise I'm not answering this question directly (although I am using Scala
and Java 8 in my own startup project), I thought it might be applicable to
leave these here:

[http://www.wired.com/2013/09/the-second-coming-of-
java/](http://www.wired.com/2013/09/the-second-coming-of-java/)

[http://www.drdobbs.com/jvm/if-java-is-dying-it-sure-looks-
aw...](http://www.drdobbs.com/jvm/if-java-is-dying-it-sure-looks-
awfully-h/240162390)

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BayAreaSmayArea
Hard to call Twitter a startup :), but yeah by the articles own admission
they're using mostly Scala with some Java.

Can you elaborate a bit on why you're using Java8 in your startup project?

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kdrakon
Actually, I'm mainly using Scala now with the Java 8 JVM. Regardless though,
the reason for either Java 8 or Scala for my current project would be because
of what I was building. I am a polyglot and will in most cases assess the
languages, tools, libraries, etc. that will get the job done well and fast. In
my particular case, I primarily build backend/platform applications.
Java/Scala, and more importantly, the tools and libraries that come along with
them (especially since for the most part, they are interchangeable, but more
so Java-to-Scala), have proven to help me get stuff like high throughput REST
APIs, large scale data processing tasks (i.e. batch, scheduled), and pretty
much non-front facing web applications running. That's probably the gist of
what I'm doing at my current startup. I haven't yet used Java in the frontend
(e.g. Play, JSF, etc.) and understand that they work, but prefer server
scripting, and more recently, Javascript, for that kind of stuff.

What it comes down to is: you just got to find what works for you and the
thing you're trying to do. Honestly, never ask just one developer how he or
she would do something. Ask a varying bunch with different backgrounds. If
they happen to intersect in opinions, that might be a good place to start. As
for finding developers; I haven't had to do that because I work within a small
group (I also have a day job doing Java, but it isn't a startup). But I'll
tell you this, there has got to be a demand for JVM developers, because
recruiters, including those from startups, seem to like doing LinkedIn queries
for JVM-related buzzwords. I can't tell you if it's working for them though,
but it at least shows other startups are using Java and the JVM.

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jtfairbank
Yes, using Java for a distributed job system. Haven't hired yet, but I don't
think it'll be an issue as its only part of our stack.

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arisAlexis
I am using Java with Jersey for building a super easy and fast REST backend

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bradhe
Yes.

No.

