Yeah, Cache was on every Java conference pitching their tools to the washed public. It sounded to me exactly how you describe, that it was a prehistoric project rehashed with new buzzwords. But I think the parent refers not so much to compiling as to

A write-up on this very topic from the Java perspective after a discussion at the JFokus conference: http://dow.ngra.de/2009/02/01/correcting-the-billion-dollar-mistake/