java sucks

A detailed critique of Java from 1997-2000, written during the development of Mozilla's Grendel project. While praising Java's automatic memory management and superiority over C/C++, the author catalogs extensive frustrations with the language design (lack of closures, primitive types not being objects, broken finalization), the standard library (inadequate file I/O, missing utilities), and Sun's conflation of four distinct things under the Java name (language, library, VM, security model). The piece argues that Sun's insistence on bundling everything together hindered Java's adoption as a native-compiled language alternative to C++.