When Java started getting popular, I had joined as one of the first members of the with the Philadelphia Java Users Group. We had monthly sessions hosted at various companies and campuses. We always had interesting presentations from experts in the cutting edge such as Sun Microsystems.
As the Microsoft Active Template Library for Component Object Model started getting much too complex, I started researching and learning Java with XML and SOAP and realized how much easier and cleaner this technology was so I embraced it. I took courses and started attending the new Philly JUG Group.
At Bank One, I pushed to use Java for batch processes that needed to be cross platform because it was so easy to just change the Java Runtime and the JDBC drivers rather than recompile C++ to the native platform which took much effort. When others took six months to move processes, my processes written in Java took little effort. Bank One started going with Java despite the backlash.