Java's `final` while useful for primitives, it is not really that useful for reference types, which constitute the majority of types. C++'s `const` is a much better solution. Better yet, both Rust and D have superior immutability constructs.
Yep. The same applies with Scala too (with `val` vs `var` declarations). I still don't like the separation of type declarations with the actual implementation; they should be the same, which is what Rust and even C++ got right.
Sure, but at that point you're not really writing Java any more. If you decide to use Checkers many of Java's plus points (in particular the huge library ecosystem and all the development tools) no longer apply.
Well, all reference types are eventually made of primitives -- and arrays. The problem with Java's final is that there are no final arrays. This is planned to be resolved in Java 9.
