[ale] Thread safe coding, Java or C

[Tim Watts]

On Sat, 2013-07-20 at 11:02 -0400, Phil Turmel wrote:
> On 07/20/2013 10:38 AM, Geoffrey Myers wrote:
> > One developer is a seasoned Java programmer, the other a seasoned C programmer. 
> 

> Of course, C++ has many of the object orientation advantages that java
> has, but doesn't do garbage collection (natively).  If you want both
> programmers to work together and be productive quickly, C++ might be the
> best compromise.  The C guy brings manual memory management skills to
> the table, while the java guy brings polymorphism and related skills.
> 
IMHO, that sounds like a match made in hell.  They may eventually be
productive but almost certainly not quickly.  Expect memory leaks and
brittle object orientation.  Part of what makes Java programmers
productive is the rich set of standard class libraries and frameworks
available.  Unless your Java programmer comes from a C++ background,
going from Java -> C++ will be a bigger leap than going the other
direction.  And it's no small leap from C to C++ either -- or I should
say, to object orientation.  (Yes, I know you can write object oriented
code in C.  But most C programmers don't, GObject notwithstanding.)

Java can call C can call Java.  I would try to structure the project so
that they can each leverage their strongest skills and then interface
where they have to interact.

Since they're both seasoned programmers they should be astute enough to
write good thread safe code.  The language doesn't matter so much as the
skill of the programmer.

Just my 2₵

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