Having read many of the postings in this thread, I must add my $ 0.02's
worth... I will try to be terse; IMHO...
Java the language is essentially a "sane subset" of C++ and is something of
a necessity given that C++ is truly a monumental hack. Java adds a couple
of new wrinkles (interfaces, for example) and, on the whole, is a language
which is easy to like but is in itself nothing to write home about.
CL the language has, and always will have, more expressive power and
elegance than Java. See "On Lisp" and CLTL2.
What "Java" brings to the table is the Java VM, JIT compilation, and easy
cross-platform network computing - "Java" therefore involves huge pragmatic
advantages. Did I mention that any high-school kid can afford to be a Java
developer?
To say, for example, that "Lisp can still win on the server" is, even now,
a very suspect statement.
So it is indeed unfortunate (and in the programming language theatre the
sort of triumph of mediocrity that one sees in the real world all the time)
that the Java phenomenon happened to occur at Sun and not at a Lisp vendor.
Given this reality it would seem to be a Very Good Thing that CL be able to
run (well) on the Java VM.
C.H. Graham