&gt; attracted a more adventurous userbase?<p>That statement seems accurate without &quot;a more adventurous&quot; - I think with Java 8 more people are using Java because they <i>want</i> to instead of because they <i>have</i> to.<p>e.g. professionally I&#x27;ve used Java more than any other language, it&#x27;s hands down the language I&#x27;m most familiar&#x2F;comfortable with, yet when I start a side project for myself I&#x27;ve never considered using Java (usually using Ruby or Scala). With Java 8 removing many warts and bringing in a lot of great improvements I&#x27;d actually consider using it for a side project.