Didn't Java 1.3 (Sun's JDK) introduce the JIT?
I remember talking to colleagues about what a joke Java performance was (we were working in C++ then). And then with Java 1.3 that started to change.
(Today, even though I still C++, C, along with Java, I'll challenge anyone who claims that Java is slower then C++.)
(Today, even though I still C++, C, along with Java, I'll challenge anyone who claims that Java is slower then C++.)