Why Java is used by most banks? [closed]

Question

I noticed that most banks use Java at the server-side to run the web apps. Why is that? What makes Java better than PHP, ruby, python..etc for banks or enterprises?

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

Look at it from the bank's perspective. Banks and other large non-technology firms are generally very conservative about technology choices because the penalty for doing an exceptionally bad job on some software is very large, but the reward for an exceptionally good job is not so large. In other words there's not much reward for taking risks on software development here. Therefore, it pays to stay somewhat behind the curve and stick with what's tried and true, rather than take a chance on the latest and greatest.

Answer 2

Enterprise solutions and support.

Answer 3

Nobody ever got fired for choosing Java

Answer 4

If this statement is true then it is because of the following:

In the late 1990s and early 2000s web development had just a few choices: 1. ASP 2. CGI 3. JSP (for example)

PHP was not what it is today. ASP was not capable of scaling to multiple servers and CGI was time consuming so allot of companies went to Java. I suspect that is the reason being the most online banking occured during this time.

year 2000 was Sun's most successful year.