Ted Neward has a good post asking who is the moral leader of the Java language, particularly with respect to Java 7 and the future of the various closure proposals. I think Ted makes a fair point and certainly there have over the years been any number of strong and influential leaders that guided these kinds of decisions (like James Gosling, Gilad Bracha, Peter von der Ahe, Neal Gafter, and Josh Bloch).

Officially, the future of Java is in the hands of the JCP but can the language itself evolve without a single guiding mind? It certainly seems that the majority of languages out there are built around a core vision espoused by (usually) a single creator. Java may even be unusual in having a series of visionary leaders over time. Are committees where languages go to die? What do you think?

Originally posted on the Java Zone