&gt; Is there a non-political reason that someone should choose Java over Clojure (or possibly Scala)? Where does Java shine?<p>If you are stuck with a group of developers who have no interest in learning anything new and wish to use Java until they retire then Java is the only choice. Other than no new learning required I can&#x27;t think of many reasons to pick Java as a first choice. Java tends to be popular because it&#x27;s the oldest, most familiar default for the JVM rather than any particular strength.