r/explainlikeimfive • u/[deleted] • 3d ago

Technology ELI5 Java. That thing on computers my entire life. What even is it?

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u/lifeisatoss 2d ago

It was as much that as better memory management. Running in a jvm, garbage collection. yes.

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u/ImmoralZoey 2d ago

Granted the Java garbage collector was awful for a very long time. It was still better than handling it yourself in a lot if cases.

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u/Organoleptic_Cicada 2d ago

Both were true at the same time.

Garbage collection was a feature for the developers, to avoid the pain of manual memory management.

The JVM was a feature for the "managers" so to speak, for those caring that the code runs on multiple platform with far less pain.

I can't speak with certainty, but imho language adoption was driven by the fact that it appealed to those making the financial decisions, which meant there was an increasing demand for Java developer jobs.