The Legacy of Codehaus
Codehaus was a critical platform for the development and hosting of Java open source projects during the last decade. It provided essential infrastructure for projects before the advent of platforms like GitHub, offering tools such as source control, issue tracking, continuous builds, and community support mechanisms like mailing lists and IRC. This infrastructure supported the growth of significant projects like Groovy, Jackson, JMock, Mule, Gradle, and many others that continue to influence the Java ecosystem today.
More than just a hosting service, Codehaus was notable for fostering a community where developers from different projects could connect, share ideas, and collaborate. This environment of respect and friendship was crucial for the incubation of new projects and solutions to common development challenges.
With the rise of new project hosting platforms, Codehaus's prominence waned, leading to its closure in April 2015. Despite this, the legacy of Codehaus lives on through the continued success of the projects it hosted and the community it built. The foundation laid by Codehaus continues to benefit the open source community, serving as a testament to its impact on the Java ecosystem.