[jghn]

I think that the part this is missing is that when comparing Java to Python/Ruby part of the argument for the latter is the dynamic language aspect. To the folks making these statements, Java is seen as involving all the headaches of those faster languages but none of the advantages whereas Python/Ruby have slower runtimes but come with potentially faster development time, etc. I personally don't like this comparison but it's how I see it made typically.

Random anecdote which led me to stop calling Java slow: I'll never forget the time I took a 3000ish line Python program which had been heavily performance tuned and thus completely impenetrable. I converted it to a dumbest-scheme-possible naive implementation in Java weighing in at roughly 100 lines , expecting that to be a first pass. It turned out that the Java implementation was many times faster so we called it good enough and moved on with life. Obviously YMMV and all of that

[fractalb]

3000 lines of Python to 100 lines of Java? 30 times smaller program! I thought Python was more expressive than Java.

[jghn]

It was due to the “highly tuned” vs “dumbest thing possible” difference