Comment by stream_fusion
10 years ago
The problem with Java binaries on the client, was that the Java applet didn't have direct access to the DOM bindings.
Instead, the applet rendered it's own GUI via the plugin, and the look and behavior was inconsistent with the rest of the browser experience.
A similar story with activex and flash.
It's a mystery why it has taken so long to get to the point where we can target the browser with a statically-checked higher-level language that has API access to the native browser event loop and dom components the same way that Javascript does it.
Another problem with Java applets was that they were slow as hell for that time.
> It's a mystery why it has taken so long to get to the point where we can target the browser with a statically-checked higher-level language that has API access to the native browser event loop and dom components the same way that Javascript does it.
We are already there. Compile to JavaScript (or, heck, WebAssembly if that ever becomes feature-complete enough).
I feel it could have been easier to add DOM bindings to Java instead of the path that has been taken.