Java Creator James Gosling Joins AWS

Around mid-day on Monday, May 22, James Gosling made a public announcement over Facebook that he has joined the team at Amazon Web Services (AWS):

"It's time for a change. I'm leaving Boeing Defense (nee Liquid Robotics), with many fond memories. Today I start a new Adventure at Amazon Web Services."

James Gosling, most known as the creator of the Java programming language, leaves his position as Chief Software Architect at Liquid Robotics, where he had worked since late 2011. Liquid Robotics was acquired by the Boeing company in late 2016.

Prior to taking the position at Liquid Robotics, Gosling spent most of his career at Sun Microsystems - starting in 1984 and lasting through 2010 - with a short stint as a Google employee as well. His departure from Sun, which occurred around the time Oracle acquired Sun, was perhaps more than a coincidence. In interviews following the acquisition by Oracle, it was noted that reductions in status, wages, decision-making ability, and changes in role were all key drivers in his decision to leave what was to become a part of the Oracle empire.

His decision to join the AWS team brings a massive amount of skills and experience to the Amazon table. Some of Gosling's achievements are noted below:

• 2002 - awarded The Economist Innovation Award and The Flame Award (USENIX Lifetime Achievement Award)

• 2007 - became an Officer of the Order of Canada

• 2013 - became a fellow of the Association for Computer Machinery

• 2015 - awarded the IEEE John von Neumann Medal

Gosling has published several books on the Java programming language and is at the top of the list on the Who We Are page of the Java EE Guardians—an independent group of people interested in moving Java EE forward.

At DZone, we plan to keep an eye on Gosling's career change and the impact he will have on the AWS offering.

What are your thoughts regarding James Gosling joining the team at AWS?