So that’s why they’re 10 years behind. But now they come out like 2+ times a year so they’re on track making major progress.
Also the null thing hasn’t been an issue for over 10 years. Just use null annotations and both your static checker and your IDE will catch every NPE.
I don't think I've ever seen a Java codebase that doesn't experience NPEs in prod, and that includes modern greenfield ones that make use of all the tools to combat it.
> Just use null annotations and both your static checker and your IDE will catch every NPE.
Yeah, or just catch it in code review, or just xyz...
Or, just switch to a compiler that doesn't allow it in the first place, out of the box?
Frankly, the last NPE I saw in production was many many years ago.
The JVM runtime though is and was a miracle of engineering. Enough to make the mediocrity of the language worth it. Though these days I don't (and don't want to) work in it, I absolutely understand why companies could make the choice to do so.