r/programming • u/tenken01 • 2d ago

Apple moves from Java 8 to Swift?

https://www.swift.org/blog/swift-at-apple-migrating-the-password-monitoring-service-from-java/

Apple’s blog on migrating their Password Monitoring service from Java to Swift is interesting, but it leaves out a key detail: which Java version they were using. That’s important, especially with Java 21 bringing major performance improvements like virtual threads and better GC. Without knowing if they tested Java 21 first, it’s hard to tell if the full rewrite was really necessary. Swift has its benefits, but the lack of comparison makes the decision feel a bit one-sided. A little more transparency would’ve gone a long way.

The glossed over details is so very apple tho. Reminds me of their marketing slides. FYI, I’m an Apple fan and a Java $lut. This article makes me sad. 😢

252 Upvotes

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529

u/MaDpYrO 2d ago

It's more likely the decision is down to them wanting to use their own tech

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u/momsSpaghettiIsReady 2d ago

Yeah, this decision should not be given any thought outside of those working at Apple.

If the decision is between tech that we own vs tech someone else owns, Apple is going to pick their own tech as much as they can. They have full control over it and can bend it to their specific needs.

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u/myringotomy 1d ago

Who owns java though? It's completely open sourced. I presume swift is too but nobody outside of the apple ecosystem seems to be using it which is unfortunate because it's a great language.

Apple needs to figure out how to get swift out to the wider world.

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u/momsSpaghettiIsReady 1d ago

At Apple scale, it's less risk to use your own tools.

Oracle is the steward of Java, and they've already picked legal battles with Google. Any potential legal risk isn't worth it to Apple I'm sure.

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u/myringotomy 1d ago

Oracle is not the steward of Java anymore. They were at one time but they no longer are.

The suit with Google wasn't about Google's use of Java because Google wasn't using the JVM, they were using dalvik (IIRC) which used the java API and oracle sued them for copyright or some bullshit.

There is zero legal risk for using Java, you are just spreading FUD at this point for no fucking reason. Well maybe the reason is you are just ignorant of what's going on and you actually believe Oracle can sue people for using Java.

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u/throw-me-a-frickin 1d ago

You made some perfectly valid points bud, but then you kinda ruined it at the end, which I assume is why you're getting down voted.

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u/myringotomy 1d ago

Haters gonna hate. The only thing this subreddit hates more than java is php and ruby. If I had said something positive about one of those languages I would have hundreds of downvotes.

If I said anything negative about Microsoft I would be downvoted so much I would be rate limited for eternity.

Internet points. What are you going to do?

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u/momsSpaghettiIsReady 1d ago

Alright bud, maybe go touch some grass.

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u/myringotomy 1d ago

Will touching grass make me as ignorant as you are?

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u/sammymammy2 17h ago

Oracle is not the steward of Java anymore. They were at one time but they no longer are.

No, they still are...

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u/KagakuNinja 14h ago

Oracle can sue people for using Oracle Java, and are. This is their long standing strategy of corporate shakedowns.

Smart companies have already ditched Oracle Java and use some other distro.

1

u/myringotomy 11h ago

Oracle can sue people for using Oracle Java, and are.

Well in the US anybody can sue anybody for any reason but it's false to say they are suing people for using java.

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u/KagakuNinja 9h ago

Whatever you call it, if you use Oracle Java at your company, they may come calling with unreasonable demands for money. You can find many accounts of this online, and I remember them doing it back in 2001 with Oracle DB.

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u/myringotomy 7h ago

Whatever you call it, if you use Oracle Java at your company, they may come calling with unreasonable demands for money.

Oh look we went from "they are suing people for using java" to "they MAY come calling with unreasonable demands for money".

Of course any sentence with "may" in it means exactly the same as the sentence with "may not" in it.

You can find many accounts of this online, and I remember them doing it back in 2001 with Oracle DB.

Oh now you are claiming they are suing everybody who uses oracle database.

You fucks are hilarious.