One analyst says Java will fade in importance and pervasiveness in the enterprise, but others believe the Web is its ticket to future.

Java will ride the Web app wave into the future, say two Ovum analysts. However, a Hydrasight analyst thinks Java will diminish in importance and enterprise pervasiveness eventually.

Although Java was developed at Sun Microsystems, Oracle has served as the platform’s steward since acquiring Sun in early 2010. During that time, Oracle has released Java 7 and Java 8, with ...

At the same time, the companies leading Java specs--not Sun--will decide in the future what kind of licensing to apply to a finalized spec, Kluyt said.

Is Java too verbose? Many tend to think so, which is why Oracle's Java architects are helping to make the syntax of Java more concise in the future.

Java also is appearing in cars, printers and camcorders. Alan Brenner, Sun's vice president for consumer and mobile systems, said makers of medical devices are also taking a look.

Fourteen years ago, a marketing genius at Sun Microsystems changed the name of a cross-platform experimental language from the very dependable-sounding "Oak" to the hyper-caffeinated moniker "Java ...