In recent weeks, we've seen what looks like an absolute state of frenzy in the Java space. It almost seems like the sky is falling.
While I don't anticipate major negative impacts on Java as a whole from the flurry of activity, news headlines could easily make developers think Java is in a state of turmoil.
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First off, Oracle is suing Google, alleging Java IP misuse in the Android mobile platform. Google, in turn, backed out of the upcoming, Oracle-driven JavaOne conference, citing the lawsuit as an attack on open source itself.
Others also are questioning the impact of the lawsuit on open source. (Java was open-sourced in late 2006 by Sun Microsystems.)
Meanwhile, Java dignitary James Gosling, long considered the father of Java, is imploring Oracle to form a separate, vendor-neutral body to oversee Java. He even designed T-shirts to promote the cause of freeing Java from Oracle. Gosling, of course, left Oracle after just a few months of working for the company, following a long tenure at Sun.
Oracle is being made into the heavy in this battle, although Google is not exactly playing David to Oracle's Goliath here. They are both Goliaths.
Despite its litigation against Google, I don't anticipate Oracle becoming heavy-handed in how it allows Java to be used. As I've said before, there are many cooks in the Java kitchen, with important Java technologies, such as the Spring Framework, happening outside the jurisdiction of Oracle and, before that, Sun.
