I have worked on several successful projects with Java back ends (and even a successful Java desktop project or two). It doesn't have to be a disaster.

Nevertheless, "fantastic" wouldn't be how I'd describe my experience. More like this:

    http://blog.plover.com/prog/Java.html

I also don't get why the specific Java bashing. I agree with you in that Java is awesome for server-side code.

Using Java was like... killing a fly by nuking it from the orbit.