Kill Bill was recently the topic of conversation on Hacker News, and a couple of commenters expressed disappointment that Kill Bill was written in Java. We’ve meant for some time to post our own opinions on Java and why it’s a suitable choice for Kill Bill, so here it goes!
Java turned 25 years old this year. That linked article mentions that a large percentage of the worldwide developer population still uses Java regularly. Fifty-two percent of Java developers use the language to create web services, while 15% use their Java skills for fintech applications.
Despite Java’s detractors, the argument to use Java as Kill Bill’s programming language is still just as strong as when we made the original decision over 12 years ago.
Why Java Is Very Good for Fintech
Java works well for financial technology because of its well-known security features and cross-platform capabilities. Oracle updates Java frequently in response to any security issues (which is why it’s important to stay current with Kill Bill and Java). Another advantage is its holistic compatibility; software applications written 20+ years ago still run on the latest Java Development Kit!
Java’s code isolation makes implementing plugins in Kill Bill relatively easy, and the Java virtual machine (VM) runs efficiently. For development purposes, you can’t beat the Java libraries and IDE (integrated development environment) support.
But don’t take it from just us:
– Valeriia Karpenko, Analyst (“A Picture of Java in 2020“)
Of course, no programming language has yet proven itself invulnerable. In December 2021, the tech world scurried to fix the log4j Java vulnerability. Thankfully, Kill Bill relies on slf4j and logback as an implementation (and not log4j), so we didn’t have to do any scurrying. (We monitor Java news and would notify the Kill Bill Community if such a vulnerability was discovered.)
You Don’t Need to Know Java to use Kill Bill
The current Kill Bill version supports Java 8, but the Kill Bill 0.24 release at the end of this year (2022) will support Java 11. For more information on the Kill Bill tech stack, check out this blog post. But it’s really not necessary to know Java to use Kill Bill. Kill Bill runs on Java on the back end. Kill Bill is deployed just like an appliance, and you interact with it over HTTPS using our back-office user interface, Kaui.
You’re responsible for the front-end interface, which allows you to use the latest and greatest technologies to present a UI that wows your customers. They’ll use that to subscribe to your product (or services), renew subscriptions, change account information, and so forth.
If you do need to develop customizations (plugins) to accommodate your specific business needs, we have a very reliable development partner that’s an expert on Kill Bill and Java development. Plugins are cost-effective and self-contained, so you won’t have any maintenance or integration headaches.
Do you have more questions about Kill Bill and Java? Visit the Kill Bill community (mailing list) and ask away!
