[diegof79]

This part:

> What surprised me was that Java supported processing ZIP files and XML from its standard runtime.

Makes me feel old.

Java was developed at a time when most people connected to the Internet via dial-up. That meant two things: the runtime is something you download once and has to work offline, and it has to support compressed packages. JAR files are essentially ZIP files with additional metadata stored as files. So yes, that’s why Java has built-in libraries for ZIP files.

The XML came with the “XML fever” of the 2000s. Java was one of the first languages to include XML support, and many of the XML DOM APIs are very Java-oriented. And, of course, it was included in the standard lib because nobody wanted extra module downloads over a slow connection. (and because XML was evolving at that time, it also meant that you had some issues between the SDK libs and user-provided libs)

[hedgehog]

You know that, and I know that, but for someone who started working more recently the difference between CORBA and punch cards might be a little blurry because they're both so far back they've never seen either. It's like kids asking how the dinosaurs in LEGO Jurassic world were animated, because they don't move like real toys, and noting how much easier the 1993 live action Jurassic Park filming was because back then they could just film real dinosaurs. Feels weird, but makes sense from their perspective.

[diegof79]

It's funny that you mention CORBA, because my first contact with Java was through a C++ CORBA service that interfaced with Java (this was around 1999). After that, I worked for many years using Java.

While many things changed, the world of remote services didn’t change radically: different technologies, same concepts.

[auvi]

Jurassic Park 1993 introduced UNIX to the mainstream world. Movies of that era showed SGI Sun, Cray or CM computers. All gone. I miss those days.

[diegof79]

The UNIX scene was funny and probably included because of some marketing arrangement with SGI. I haven’t seen mentions of UNIX in other movies.

For context: in Jurassic Park, there is a scene where a 12-year-old girl sits in front of an SGI workstation to deactivate some doors (or similar) and says, “I know this! This is UNIX; it’s easy”, and uses a 3D UI to navigate files. At that time, an SGI workstation was very expensive and not something you could learn at home, and UNIX-like OSs weren't as common. The scene was like someone saying “I know this it’s a nuclear reactor, it’s easy”

[clan]

Too many secrets, indeed!

[NuclearPM]

I just had to look through XML at work. What an ugly format!

[chasd00]

There use to be a saying, "XML is like violence, if it's not working just add more!".

[NuclearPM]

Why use 5000 characters when you could use 9000?

[tanin]

DOCX or OOXML takes it to another level.

Instead of making something an attribute, they make it a child element...