Sun Microsystems today held its 10th birthday bash for the Java language, at the Sun campus in Santa Clara, Calif. But the sun didn’t shine.With hundreds of Sun employees and dignitaries gathered outside, suddenly it began to rain after not having rained in the Bay Area for two weeks. It rained hard. Then about 45 seconds later, it stopped.And everybody went back outside to supposedly reflect on the success of Java. “It’s been way more successful than anybody had any fantasies of,” said James Gosling, a Java pioneer who now serves at CTO of the Sun Developer Products Group.Although questions have been raised about exactly how much revenue Java generates for Sun, Gosling said that if Java had not succeeded, it would be a Windows-only world. Thusly, Java has helped maintain diversity, according to Gosling’s explanation. “There would have been no way for anybody else to create anything other than a Windows machine,” Gosling said. Another early Java developer, Tim Lindholm, a Sun Distinguished Engineer, noted Java’s original promise was for running applets in browsers. “Java became a force to be reckoned with. Then it moved into the cellphones and servers,” and other systems, Lindholm said. Sun’s decision to let anyone develop on Java has resulted in a vast array of Java-based products, even from Sun competitors such as IBM and BEA Systems. It seems that Microsoft is the lone holdout on Java.It will be interesting to see what type of 20th birthday party might be held for the multiplatform Java programming language 10 years from now, or whether it will have been succeeded by something greater. (By Paul Krill, reporting from the Java 10th Birthday Party) Technology Industry