Yes, I know why it's the case nowadays: at my work, for example, I occasionally touch all the major areas of modern software development — server backends, mobile, Javascript-in-the-browser and meta-software for writing software — but I've never done what the average person, and maybe even I, would think of when they hear the term "software development."
And it does seem very very strange. I'm imagining this Socratic dialogue:
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Socrates: What is the most popular programming language?
Developer: Java.
Socrates: And why is Java so popular?
Developer: It's the first language most people learn nowadays, so everyone knows it.
Socrates: So it's popular because it's popular?
Developer: Well, it's very similar to C++, which was the most popular language when it first came out, so it was easy for people who already knew C++ to learn.
Socrates: So why not keep using C++?
Developer: C++ had a lot of problems that made it hard to use, and Java solved a lot of those.
Socrates: Such as?
Developer: If you wrote an application in C++ that ran on any given operating system, like Windows, you wouldn't be able to run the same code on another operating system like Linux or Mac; you would have to rewrite much of your work from scratch to support more than one operating system. Java is "write once, run anywhere." Your Java program will run exactly the same way, without having to rewrite anything, on any operating system that has a Java implementation.
Socrates: Interesting! Can you show me?
Developer: (Writes "hello world," demonstrates it runs the same in both cmd.exe and Bash)
Socrates: And that works with real programs too?
Developer: What do you mean? This isn't a very long or useful program, but it is an real program.
Socrates: What's special about what you just showed me? Can't you write these command line things in any language? Look: I learned a bit of Python a few years ago. (enters python -c "print 'Hello, world!'" in both terminals)
Developer: OK, maybe that wasn't the best example, but when you're doing more complicated stuff it gets harder and harder to write code for more than one operating system in a language like C++, so a language that runs the same everywhere, like Java, or Python, is better to have.
Socrates: So like an application that you would install?
Developer: Exactly!
Socrates: OK! So could you show me a real application then? Like, it says "Hello, world!" in a window, with a menu and buttons and stuff? And it will be the same on both Windows and Linux?
Developer: No, that's not possible.
Socrates: Hm?
Developer: You can't do that in Java.
Socrates: So, Java is the most popular programming language, but you can't use the programs you write in it?
Developer: Alright, you got me there. Usually Java is used for writing applications that run on servers, not PCs.
Socrates: Servers?
Developer: Yeah, like if you go to a website, there might be an application on its server to fetch your account information from a database.
Socrates: But why do you need a special application for that? Can't you just ask for the information you need directly?
Developer: Good question. We're moving in that direction. But for some things you really do need some kind of custom logic, and for those things Java is a good solution across different platforms.
Socrates: What different platforms are there in servers?
Developer: There aren't really that many platforms. Almost all servers run Linux. But there's also a few that run Windows, or FreeBSD, which is very similar to Linux.
Socrates: So if you were on a less popular operating system, like Windows, you would use Java to be compatible with Linux?
Developer: Probably not; really, the only reason you would use Windows on a server instead of Linux is if your application were written in C#, which is Microsoft's Java competitor.
Socrates: So Java is the most popular-because-it's-popular programming language you can't write programs in, and it's useful because it runs on every platform, on only one platform?
Besides the fact that you can have reasonable UI in swing (look at IDEA), and that Java was designed for Solaris initially, and that Java is still way faster that any JS (sockets, compare-and-set primitives, +direct access to native memory, shared memory IPC and the like... which makes it prime candidate for server applications) it makes for a good example what an uneducated developer might say.
>Socrates: OK! So could you show me a real application then? Like, it says "Hello, world!" in a window, with a menu and buttons and stuff? And it will be the same on both Windows and Linux?
>Developer: No, that's not possible.
And it does seem very very strange. I'm imagining this Socratic dialogue:
---
Socrates: What is the most popular programming language?
Developer: Java.
Socrates: And why is Java so popular?
Developer: It's the first language most people learn nowadays, so everyone knows it.
Socrates: So it's popular because it's popular?
Developer: Well, it's very similar to C++, which was the most popular language when it first came out, so it was easy for people who already knew C++ to learn.
Socrates: So why not keep using C++?
Developer: C++ had a lot of problems that made it hard to use, and Java solved a lot of those.
Socrates: Such as?
Developer: If you wrote an application in C++ that ran on any given operating system, like Windows, you wouldn't be able to run the same code on another operating system like Linux or Mac; you would have to rewrite much of your work from scratch to support more than one operating system. Java is "write once, run anywhere." Your Java program will run exactly the same way, without having to rewrite anything, on any operating system that has a Java implementation.
Socrates: Interesting! Can you show me?
Developer: (Writes "hello world," demonstrates it runs the same in both cmd.exe and Bash)
Socrates: And that works with real programs too?
Developer: What do you mean? This isn't a very long or useful program, but it is an real program.
Socrates: What's special about what you just showed me? Can't you write these command line things in any language? Look: I learned a bit of Python a few years ago. (enters python -c "print 'Hello, world!'" in both terminals)
Developer: OK, maybe that wasn't the best example, but when you're doing more complicated stuff it gets harder and harder to write code for more than one operating system in a language like C++, so a language that runs the same everywhere, like Java, or Python, is better to have.
Socrates: So like an application that you would install?
Developer: Exactly!
Socrates: OK! So could you show me a real application then? Like, it says "Hello, world!" in a window, with a menu and buttons and stuff? And it will be the same on both Windows and Linux?
Developer: No, that's not possible.
Socrates: Hm?
Developer: You can't do that in Java.
Socrates: So, Java is the most popular programming language, but you can't use the programs you write in it?
Developer: Alright, you got me there. Usually Java is used for writing applications that run on servers, not PCs.
Socrates: Servers?
Developer: Yeah, like if you go to a website, there might be an application on its server to fetch your account information from a database.
Socrates: But why do you need a special application for that? Can't you just ask for the information you need directly?
Developer: Good question. We're moving in that direction. But for some things you really do need some kind of custom logic, and for those things Java is a good solution across different platforms.
Socrates: What different platforms are there in servers?
Developer: There aren't really that many platforms. Almost all servers run Linux. But there's also a few that run Windows, or FreeBSD, which is very similar to Linux.
Socrates: So if you were on a less popular operating system, like Windows, you would use Java to be compatible with Linux?
Developer: Probably not; really, the only reason you would use Windows on a server instead of Linux is if your application were written in C#, which is Microsoft's Java competitor.
Socrates: So Java is the most popular-because-it's-popular programming language you can't write programs in, and it's useful because it runs on every platform, on only one platform?