Java is a programming language closely tied to web development, being one of the most widely used programming languages over the last 20 years. This popularity is largely due to its versatility. This versatility and close connection to the web saw Java utilised for some of the most popular online games of all time—RuneScape. Which was coded almost entirely in the language. If you’re still playing Old School RuneScape today, you’re playing a huge part of Java gaming history! So buy osrs bond to give yourself a pat on the back!
But if Java can be used to make games as big as RuneScape, why don’t we see more games coded in Java? Well, there are a few reasons for that. So let’s take a look at why games generally aren’t coded in Java.
Performance Concerns
This may sound obvious, but the key reason that Java isn’t used for more games is simply concerns about its performance—especially during real-time gameplay. While Java has come a long way since its initial release in 1995 (30 years ago!), developers still remain sceptical about its ability to handle demanding graphics and complex game logic.
While this may sound basic, these concerns are well founded. After all, Java is a language for coding web applications—but not necessarily games. So while some programmers will be able to make Java highly performant, it will come with the weight of needing to build additional frameworks to support it.
Lack of Native Game Development Features
These performance concerns ultimately trickle down to the fact that Java isn’t necessarily built to support games. In other words, there are lots of features that game developers need which are simply missing from native Java. When compared to commonly used game development languages like C++ and C#, this means that developers need to do a lot of the heavy lifting to create systems which facilitate game development. Adding a whole host of back-end development which wouldn’t need to be done if using a more purpose-built language.
Of course, there are third-party libraries and frameworks which do exist to help bridge this gap. But, ultimately, Java requires developers to put a lot more effort into building tools before they can get into development, making it less ideal and more expensive.
Familiarity Bias
Game developers are a very specialised type of programmer. And, over the many decades of making games, developers have standardized the use of two programming languages: C++ and C#. Meaning that most games today will be majority coded in one of these two languages.
Java, on the other hand, is well known by web developers—another specialized type of programmer.
While there certainly is cross-pollination between these two types of programming, in most cases it’s best to use the most-common language for a given task type. The reasons for this are twofold. Firstly, a purpose-built language provides developers with the most relevant tools. But secondly, and often more importantly, support is much more easy to find by choosing a task-relevant language.
Together, this means that Java is unlikely to explode as the next big gaming programming language.
Does Java Have a Future in Game Development?
All this said, games are still being produced in Java. Specifically small, web-based games. While this is likely to continue, the domination of non-Java game engines, the industry’s preference for C-based languages and the general preference for non-web-based games means that we’re unlikely to see Java explode in popularity. If anything, we’ll probably see it’s presence in gaming diminish over the years to come.