[1434] in java-interest
re: the future of Java
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Robert L Gordon)
Fri Sep 1 20:56:53 1995
Date: Fri, 1 Sep 1995 18:20:00 -0400
From: gordon@world.std.com (Robert L Gordon)
To: java-interest@java.sun.com
Glen:
Great observations...
> This is a niche that could well grow so big that it subsumes "standalone
> apps" in a future where everything is connected and nothing stands alone.
> If C++ is the standard for standalone apps, and Java becomes the standard
> for web apps, and the web app market grows explosively and begins to merg
> with the standalone market, it's more likely that Java will dominate the
> merger than C++. The point where the two equally powerful markets merge,
> each with its own powerful standard, is the time where technical
> superiority will matter.
>
Having run the Scripting Language effort for IMA, in the past
few years, I noticed that the words "Programming Language",
are emotionally loaded. Peoples expectations are all over the
lot. Personally, I sort languages into two groups.
General Purpose & Domain Specific
e.g. C, C++, PL/I, ... e.g. Simula, PostScript, LISP, ...
So this brings up the point, where should I put JAVA?
I always tell people, that PostScript is the most widely
used language, but no one codes in it. No one
would write and OS in PostScript, or an Airline Reservation
system, because certain language features have been left out,
while other features have been put in to make it tuned
for 2 1/2D graphics. As an aside, it is instructive to see
what had to be added to it for display PostScript. Remember
the SUN News Window System?
So, is it the case that JAVA is optimized for cross-platform
animated display use in a network environment? A new application
area, NOT COVERED BY ANY OTHER DOMAIN SPECIFIC LANGUAGE!
If so, we should expect it to be the ideal tool for this, having
built in direct support for code sharing fragments involving
animated data from any souce, but we should not expect it to
be optimized for general purpose computing. The result is, that
the marketing arm should not position this as a competitor to
C, or C++, or PL/I.. Thus, there should be no griping about
where support for the clever/abusive things programmers do
with pointers and self modifying code to make a program scream
on the latest DSP, or RISC processor.
------------------------------------------------
Robert L. Gordon E-Mail: gordon@world.std.com
Gordon Associates Bus: (508) 263-8729
68 Washington Drive Fax: (508) 263-4716
Acton, MA 01720 http://world.std.com/~gordon/
"If you're not online, you're not in business."
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