[goggles99]

Of course Ruby and Python are influenced by Java (there is hardly a maintained language that has not been). Not the initial release perhaps, but don't you think that Ruby has evolved over the 19 years since Java was released? This release alone has been influenced by Java (Generational garbage collection enhancing performance by as much as 100% in some cases)

A question for you is why do you care? If a Java programmer tries to rib you saying that Java is better because x feature was influenced or 'stolen' from Java, just laugh at them and tell them then C++ must be 'better' than Java huh?

[riffraff]

how is generational GC a java thing? It's been around since the '80s [0]

[0] 1983 "A real-time garbage collector based on the lifetimes of objects"

[the8472]

Generational GC itself is not specific to java. But if you want to look at state-of-the-art collectors then you'll generally find them in JVMs.

[Argorak]

I am speaking language design here. Ruby is a surprisingly conservative language when it comes to changing syntax and semantics.

Sure, runtimes always evolve and cross-pollinate.

I don't care, but as stated in another comment, you often get that question from people joining over from the Java camp.