

Babylon 5 & the Great War of Java - bigstorm
http://www.jroller.com/scolebourne/entry/babylon_5_the_great_war

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pilif
as a huge fan of Babylon5 myself, I must commend the author on this analogy.
For me, this makes perfect sense.

Also, I just decided, that it's probably time for a rewatch - it has been two
years now since I've last seen the series.

~~~
seiji
Don't forget the official books: <http://b5books.com/>

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umjames
What would it take to get the enterprise to look at alternatives to Java
(programming language and/or platform)? If COBOL is any indication, then Java
software in the enterprise will continue to be developed for the remainder of
our lives.

So, unless you find working with the COBOL of our times enthralling, I guess
now is as good a time as any to jump ship on Java. Not that most HN readers
haven't done that already.

~~~
netmau5
Yea, there is still huge money in "legacy" languages like COBOL. There is
plenty of financial sector software out there on COBOL that still works fine
and is simply so massive after 30 years of development that rewriting it has
never been successful.

Luckily, I think most of us Java devs have had the benefit of the shift
towards a more polyglot style during the last several years. I think our
generation of developers, if you can call it that, are more capable of
weathering the storm; ultimately, we will be fine if Java dies.

~~~
gaius
You know, there was a similar proliferation of languages in the 1970s. COBOL
survived, and who uses PL/I and MUMPS now?

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mindcreek
Yea it is time to rewatch babylon 5 .

Java is not a great language but scalability, cross platform and corporate
support made it what it is today, if the company behind Java leaves it alone,
in time less and less people will choose it in long term mission critical
deployments, then it will die.

Or maybe another language will rise after the death of java which can be
better in the long term.

I am both happy and sad that java is dying.

~~~
qohen
Speaking of Babylon 5, for those of you who haven't seen it--or those who wish
to rewatch it--all 5 seasons are available online for free at AOL's online
TV/movie site, SlashControl.com.

Series page: <http://www.slashcontrol.com/free-tv-shows/babylon-5>

Start here: [http://www.slashcontrol.com/free-tv-
shows/babylon-5/season1/...](http://www.slashcontrol.com/free-tv-
shows/babylon-5/season1/episode?page=3&pageSize=10)

(There are one or two missing episodes--specifically, I know season 1 #13
isn't there--but you can get whatever's missing from iTunes, etc.).

The pilot is there, as Season 1 ep 1, but the other movies are not (I'd
recommend seeing "In the Beginning" just before watching Season 5, if you
can).

~~~
ivank
Anyone tempted to watch it on NetFlix should know that their copy is pan-and-
scan 4:3 instead of the original.

(Also, how cool is it to have correctly predicted widescreen TVs in 1993?)

