India, Sept. 15 -- Java is more than 30 years old.

That is an extraordinary lifespan in an industry where technologies can move from breakthrough to legacy within a decade. But longevity also brings a different kind of pressure.

Java occupies an unusual place in technology in 2026. It is more than three decades old, deeply embedded in enterprise systems, and still being asked to prove that it belongs in the next generation of computing.

The competition for developer attention has changed considerably. Python, a general-purpose programming language that has become central to artificial intelligence and data science, commands much of the AI conversation. Go (Golang), created at Google and designed for simple, scalable software, has built...