Bruce Eckel has written a thoughtful "essay" about the problems of Java suggesting that a mix and match solution could be the best solution in many cases. (I know the entry is already a couple of months old, but I enjoyed reading it, and I thought some FN visitors might find it interesting too, as well as the other content on artima Web site...)

Basically Eckel says that because Java was rushed out, some bad decisions were made, which still have not been corrected - especially bad was the UI framework, which has been replaced many time and still no good solution exists for creating a cross-platform GUI. Also support of Java for various things (like Media) and platforms (e.g. Mac and Linux) has not been always great.

It is also notable that rich Internet applications were not created with Java applets. The problem with applets is that, well, the applets just do not work. Many systems use JavaScript (as the J in AJAX), although this solution is not great either (including cross-platform issues). However many of the successful Web 2.0 apps were programmed with Flash (Flickr and YouTube are examples - do one need to say more..)

The main point in the essay is not that everything should be Flash and Flex, but that people should be ready to use various tools in their projects

"It’s clear that we can’t wait for Sun to fix all of Java’s problems. Open-sourcing Java might, eventually, have a huge impact on repairing Java’s deficiencies. For example, work on the JMF might get resurrected. Maybe installation issues will even be fixed someday. The possibilities might be limitless, but if you need to solve problems now, then the solution is to hybridize parts of the language.

We do this already. You don’t insist on using a Java database for an application; you use a specialized system like MySQL or Oracle. Sun is directly supporting the development of JRuby for hybrid Java/JRuby programming. We are seeing other special-purpose languages arise to solve specialized problems. Why insist on using a Java library for UI if a specialized system solves the problem better?"