This is a serious question, really, but is Java considered a programming language or an elaborate social media driven computer virus?
Heh! Funny.
While Java is a professional programming language that is often used by less than professional programmers it is NOT an ideal language for programming web apps and it never has been. In 95 they began hyping it as a web language because at the time it was better than using C++. The idea behind Java was to remove the “dangerous” aspects of C++ such as pointers and memory management and garbage collection so that programmers couldn’t screw up the code and make it unsafe. Unfortunately, what they removed were the constructs that made C++ so powerful in the hands of competent and experienced programmers and allowed many who were less than skilled to write applications. Crappy code is still crappy code regardless of the language when it is written by newbies who think they know everything about the language. Java is still klunky to write, especially for visual apps and is a memory hog.
C++ is still the predominant language in use along with Java, C#, and yes, VB .Net.