I went to see the premier of “Java documentary”. I was a part of the broader effort to build Java from 2001 all the way to the acquisition by Oracle, which happened around 2010, then some. So when I learned from my friend that this was happening, I wanted to come.
When I arrived late to the movie theater in Mountain View, the theater was packed. I was there just in time for the film to start.
The purple logo of Sun Microsystems came up on the screen shortly into the film. I had hard time resisting the temptation to clap my hands. That logo meant so much to me. What it represented has grown on me over the years, no doubt in part because it’s no more.
The film consisted mainly of present-day interview footages from key people. Some of the names I recognized, the others I didn’t. Most of them were clearly aged than how I remembered them. I suppose that shouldn’t be a surprise, given that the film was about the movement a quarter of a century ago!
The way Java got described by those people in the film was quite technical. My wife wouldn’t have understood what they are talking about, mostly. It did get me thinking about what I’d do if I were to take on a project like this. Who do I want to tell the story to, and what message do I want to deliver? I don’t know how the director answered those questions.
The story described the time span I was involved as the “dark age”. That made me realize the Java story continued (and it still is!) after I left, and for that I felt good and grateful. I know it’s not easy to keep pushing past the peak.
The story told also didn’t spend much time on the part I was involved, which is JavaEE, either. And to the extent that it did, it was described as a failure that had to be saved by Spring, a competing technology. I can definitely see that perspective, but that’s certainly not the story I told to myself. It made me think how big the “Java” elephant was, and how I was only touching this elephant from just one side.
The film ended, and the light came back. There was a brief panel discussion between 4 people who were in the film. Their answers evoked warm feelings of “yup, James is still James!”
People started socializing, and I was able to find some familiar faces. The fact that I didn’t recognize most of them just goes to show how big the movement was. And it didn’t really matter anyway because we all knew we were in it together. People started talking, and after a while we moved to a bar and continued. Everyone was so eager to share their own Java stories from those days, they hardly couldn’t wait for their turns. I realized perhaps that was the purpose of the film — by telling one story to people who were there, it pulled out all the other stories from them!
The conversation went on for a couple of hours, at which point I decided to leave. It was heart-warming to see that Java meant so much to so many, including myself. It was a great night.