Google Hires Java Founder James Gosling

Locked into a lawsuit with Oracle over the use of the programming language Java, Google has hired Java's creator James Gosling, it was reported today.

The news came from Gosling's own blog, which said, "Through some odd twists in the road over the past year, and a tardis encountered along the way, I find myself starting employment at Google today. . . . I don't know what I'll be working on. I expect it'll be a bit of everything, seasoned with a large dose of grumpy curmudgeon."

The news becomes doubly interesting when one realizes that Google is fighting a lawsuit by Oracle, which owns the patent on Java, for copyright infringement for using similar software called Dalvik in Android. Gosling, 55, was employed by Sun Microsystems when he created Java, but it was taken over by Oracle early in 2010. Gosling left the company, and since has made negative comments about it, including calling Oracle founder Larry Ellison, "Larry, Prince of Darkness."

So will Google use Gosling's know-how to create a better Android platform, or use his help to find a way to fight Oracle's lawsuit? It seems as good a route to take as any -- and definitely would annoy Larry, Prince of Darkness.

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