why does java suck?

I've noticed in the short time I've been reading this board that there's a lot of java bashing, so I was wondering why people actually think it is so bad. I'm no java fan, but I've used it for some stuff before and it didn't seem terrible to me. An argument used to be that it runs slow as a guro-fied loli, but they've improved a lot in that aspect.

Please give good reasons, rather than stuff like "it's for certified professional consultants" or whatever you guys say.

>>17

I almost forgot there were right reasons to hate Java. To be fair, Java is easy to program in. It does take up less time then usual, however it's a complete trade off. If you give up time, you give up flexability and preformance. Java VM is written in C, so I think C\C++ is a good reference point for bias. Seeing as that Java's purpose was to be a crossplatform language designed to fix the problems both C\C++ had. (Essentially reducing flexability)

I remember when the internet was first starting to become more graphic and applets started popping up, now those things are normally done in flash. It's been a while since I've seen a website use a java applet.

Application design, yes. It is easy to make a small application, and there are a few that use Java. Azerus is a good one. It's nice that it's cross platform, but it under preforms when compared to others written in Python or C\C++. (I switched from Azerus to BitCommet, now I can handle 20 torrents with 100 connections each, as opposed to 3 torrents with 100 connections.) Is there many commerical applications written in Java? Most users I would say run a windows system, and with the .NET interface it makes it as easy to program in it as Java (maybe more).

Game design. Java does make it easier to devolope 3D applications then if you were to write them in another language. However making something like that easier (In Java3Ds case) restricts the devoloper from accessing low level functions. Not that this matters a whole lot, it's just a bit restrictive if you like flexability with a graphics API.

The only reason I see Java being taught is to quickly boost someone who doesn't understand programming well to a state where they understand basic concepts. It's easy to setup, it's easy to compile and run. You don't have to deal with nasty memory leaks or crashes (well, you do if you don't check your exceptions). It takes less time because it's a high level language and you don't have to deal with pointers, which is a godsend for some first year students at University.