&gt; the whole Java standard library will still take years to change to use them, if it ever does.<p>All Java collections (which are what really matters) are being retrofitted alongside with the introduction of value types. As soon as value types are introduced (and the HotSpot team is working hard on that right now), all collections will be fully value-ready.<p>&gt; Go already gives better tools than Java for managing native memory through cgo, which is a far less painful interface than JNI<p>JNI is being replaced by Project Panama: <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;openjdk.java.net&#x2F;projects&#x2F;panama&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;openjdk.java.net&#x2F;projects&#x2F;panama&#x2F;</a> (you can already use a similar FFI already with JNR, which serves as a blueprint for Panama&#x27;s FFI: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;github.com&#x2F;jnr" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;github.com&#x2F;jnr</a> I&#x27;ve used JNR to write a FUSE filesystem in Java without a line of C, and unlike JNA, it&#x27;s fast!)<p>Besides, HotSpot runs C now, too, and quite well:<p><a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.chrisseaton.com&#x2F;rubytruffle&#x2F;cext&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.chrisseaton.com&#x2F;rubytruffle&#x2F;cext&#x2F;</a><p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;dl.dropboxusercontent.com&#x2F;u&#x2F;292832&#x2F;useR_multilang_demo.mp4" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;dl.dropboxusercontent.com&#x2F;u&#x2F;292832&#x2F;useR_multilang_de...</a><p>&gt; Plus, sun.misc.Unsafe is probably going away, according to Oracle.<p>... only to be replaced by something much better: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=ycKn18LtNtk" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=ycKn18LtNtk</a> (Unsafe isn&#x27;t going away until replacements are available).<p>&gt; From what I&#x27;ve heard, Azul has a great GC, but the throughput is extremely low.<p>Not at all. Just a little lower than with HotSpot&#x27;s throughput collector, and possibly higher than with G1 (although G1 changes a lot, so that might not be true).