Java creator James Gosling joins Google in the middle of Oracle lawsuit
Today, Google announced that they hired a new employee. This wouldn’t normally make the news, but the new hire and the circumstances surrounding the hiring are of some significance to a rapidly growing community in the mobile device world.
The person is James Gosling, the man behind Java. And for those who don’t know, Java is heavily utilized in Google’s popular Android operating system. This makes Gosling’s presence a great advantage for Google in developing their OS. His extensive experience with Java should allow him to improve Android in many ways, and it will be interesting to see how Google puts him to work.
Not only could he help with development, but he may be able to help Google in a Java-related lawsuit as well. In August of last year, Oracle sued Google over their use of Java in Android. The lawsuit is still dragging on, but many think Gosling can help Google bring it to a quicker close. He left Sun when they were acquired by Oracle and has since made it clear that he does not approve of their policies, so he should be eager to fight them.
Even if he can’t help with the lawsuit, I know I’ll be watching to see what other advances he can bring to Android.
[CNet]
