JavaScript vs Java
Carlos Perez wrote a very interesting piece asking What did JavaScript have that Java did not? The question initially seemed obvious, but he makes some good points about JavaScript and dynamically typed languages.
His first point was that proponents of Java-in-browser made no real effort in integrating Java with the browser - whether it is interacting with HTML, or the DOM, or the client-server interactions.
The problem appears to be that the surface area for interaction with the HTML page was too small. In hindsight, the task to develop richer and more convenient interactions with the underlying HTML page structure was never undertaken with any real seriousness.
The end result is that Java remained one of the last choices for programming on the browser side, and we all gave up Java in the browser.
On the other hand, it is easy to write off JavaScript as an inferior language given its lack of modularity, packaging, and abstraction. But you can not beat JavaScript when it comes its integration into the browser. Server side frameworks can try to hide some of the complexity of JavaScript behind a facade of Java, as is being done by frameworks like GWT and ICEFaces. Then again, they can only solve the some common use cases, and start leaking when it comes to more complex tasks in the browser. So, my philosophy is - don’t hate/hide JavaScript - embrace it.
Nice to get through this topic have ever got before.