>>>>> "michaelb" == michaelb <michaelb at real-time.com> writes: >> As a developer, I don't like Java because it seems to me to hit a low >> point in the tradeoff curve between interpreted and compiled languages >> (rigid like compiled, yet slow) and between high-level and low-level >> languages (OK, so it has garbage collection, but I still have to >> interact with far too many objects to do even the simplest things). michaelb> It's hard to interpret this opinion. What are you michaelb> comparing Java too? What is your language/platform of michaelb> choice? What type of software do you develop? Language of choice for GUI is really to get someone else to do it. I do computer science research, so I like to be able to develop stuff quickly, and in as high a level language as I can get my hands on. Perl, Python, Common Lisp, ML are all good. I used to take others' word for it that rapid prototyping languages weren't up to delivery, but have now worked with enough people using Java and C++ that I no longer believe that. Plus tons of those people seemed to end up using Visual Basic! Supposedly with lower level languages you buy better run time with a big expenditure of more programmer time; but by and large I don't see the payoff as being worth it. YMMV, but for anything other than hard-core systems programming (including developing inner-loop libraries), C, C++, and even Java (although it's certainly easier than the first two) seem really masochistic. To directly address your points, Java doesn't seem that much better looking than Python + graphics libraries, but it's a ton more difficult to use. Sure, a lot of time you have to use what the PHB says you should use, and for that Java seems better than the other alternatives, but "best that a PHB will stomach doesn't seem good enough..." Have a look at some of Paul Graham's stuff; might turn upside-down the way you look at programming languages: http://www.paulgraham.com/gh.html _______________________________________________ TCLUG Mailing List - Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota Help beta test TCLUG's potential new home: http://plone.mn-linux.org Got pictures for TCLUG? Beta test http://plone.mn-linux.org/gallery tclug-list at mn-linux.org https://mailman.real-time.com/mailman/listinfo/tclug-list