[ale] OT: So what about Java?

[Geoffrey]

Jeff Hubbs wrote:
> I'm combing through dozens and dozens of job postings as per usual and I
> see an awful lot of jobs that require Java knowledge as well as J2EE,
> JavaScript, servlets, etc.

Quick note, JavaScript and Java are two completely different languages. 
  There is no relationship.

> 
> Is there anything about this Java mini-universe that simply cannot be
> accomplished through other means that are not tightly tied to one
> company or any company at all?

I think Java is robust enough to do everything you want, it works well 
with the browser environment and it's (kinda) portable.

> 
> I am old-school enough that I distrust languages that are not created
> independently from any corporate interest.  I guess I had a bit of an
> "ah-ha moment" WAAAAY back when I was first studying Pascal in the 1980s
> - that a programming language can be committed to international
> standardization  with all platform-specific implementations being
> subservient to those standards, to the point that implementers would run
> serious political and market-share risks if they "broke" their
> implementation of a given language.
> 
> Even when I was in high school, I recall that there were some definite
> non-standardization among implementations of BASIC such that if you were
> used to coding on Data General (as I did) and found yourself writing
> code on another machine (as I did when participating in regional
> programming contests), you needed to know to use parens instead of
> brackets for array index values or whatever.

I think C is about the most portable language I've ever used.  I've 
written C on 3b2s, *86, Solaris, SunOS, HPUX...  Java's been pretty much 
the same way for me as well.
> 
> My opinion is that there is a deep dark danger associated with Java, C#,
> or .NET implementations such that a sharper cookie should look
> elsewhere.  I, personally, am far more interested in the likes of Lython
> or Perl.  Am I off-base about all this?

Well, .NET is an extension of the evil M$, so I would never go there. 
C# is their bastardization of a decent language to surely 'embrace and 
extend.'  I guess I'm more comfortable with java because it's not 
Microsoft, but also, it's not 'owned' by a company who currently holds 
the computer world hostage with their monopoly.

> 
> - Jeff
> 
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> 

-- 
Until later: Geoffrey		esoteric at 3times25.net

The latest, most widespread virus?  Microsoft end user agreement.
Think about it...

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