The co-creator of the Java programming language, James Gosling, has become the latest former Sun Microsystems executive to resign following the company’s acquisition by software giant Oracle.

Writing in his personal blog, the 54-year old confirmed that he had left his position as chief technology officer of Oracle’s client software group. Former Sun CEO Jonathan Schwartz and XML co-creator Tim Bray have also left the company following the conclusion of the Oracle takeover in January 2010.

"As to why I left, it’s difficult to answer," Gosling wrote, "just about anything I could say that would be accurate and honest would do more harm than good." Gosling confirmed that since leaving his position on April 2, he had not taken up a role elsewhere.

Gosling began working on Java in 1991, with the initial aim of creating a software platform for television set top boxes. The language allows developers to write software once and run it on many platforms. It now forms the basis of a broad range of software from enterprise applications to the firmware on London’s Oyster contactless travel cards.