javac
Shares rank 22 of 26 compilers by recommenders
Free standard Java compiler that people praise for fast batch compiles and predictable behavior. Critics note it is slower than some compilers and weak for live tooling.
Free standard Java compiler that people praise for fast batch compiles and predictable behavior. Critics note it is slower than some compilers and weak for live tooling.
7 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 5
- criticize it
- 2
- approval share
- 71%
Recommended in 3 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 5 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 2.5 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 3 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Fast compiling of many files
“Use javac directly, in a recent JDK, to compile lots of files at once”
Comment from 18 Mar 2026 in “Java 26 is here, and with it a solid foundation for the future” “javac itself is indeed fast”
Comment from 18 Mar 2026 in “Java 26 is here, and with it a solid foundation for the future” Predictable, no surprise file deletion
“when I call "javac" it won't decide randomly to delete my home directory”
Comment from 22 Jan 2026 in “Brain on ChatGPT: Accumulation of Cognitive Debt When Using an AI Assistant” Runs on alternative JVM implementations
“you can run OpenJDK's javac with OpenLDK”
Comment from 26 Nov 2025 in “JOPA: Java compiler in C++, Jikes modernized to Java 6 with Claude”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Slower than some other compilers
“javac was at least two orders of magnitude slower at compiling than my preferred java compiler”
Comment from 8 Dec 2025 in “The programmers who live in Flatland” Poor base for live tooling
“javac is a poor foundation for any kind of live tooling like LSPs”
Comment from 23 Jul 2026 in “Escape IntelliJ: Scala and Kotlin LSPs on Emacs Eglot”
Other compilers people recommend
The four most recommended other compilers, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GCC | 138 | 123 | 53% | 12 | 15 yrs9 owners | — |
| Clang | 74 | 50 | 60% | 12 | — | — |
| Free Pascal compiler | 38 | 7 | 84% | 11 | — | Approved |
| GraalVM Native Image | 31 | 9 | 78% | 11 | — | Approved |
| javacThis page | 5 | 2 | 71% | 3 | — | — |
What people said
6 of the 7 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“javac is a poor foundation for any kind of live tooling like LSPs”
“javac itself is indeed fast”
“Use javac directly, in a recent JDK, to compile lots of files at once”
“when I call "javac" it won't decide randomly to delete my home directory”
“javac was at least two orders of magnitude slower at compiling than my preferred java compiler”
“you can run OpenJDK's javac with OpenLDK”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.