Try groovy. Its biggest problems are as follows: 1) Name. Sounds like a joke. 2) Everybody associates it with Grails. Blah. 3) IDEs are taking their time to come around (although I believe Idea now does automatic imports, which was the deal killer for me).
Its built on top of Java, has a syntax that is very similar to Java. Interacts back and forth directly with Java, so you can write Java and Groovy right next to each other. Has closures and all sorts of other fancy stuff the RTT* languages have, and is optionally typed. that last part completely evaporates any perceived benefit that a RTT language (Ruby, Python, etc) would have. You can specify your types, and get the type checking and IDE features (code completion, etc), but you don't have to. I can't speak to Groovy's performance compared to other RTT languages. It does have an abstraction layer in front of everything, including numbers, so number intensive apps get killed. However, since you can call back and forth between groovy and java classes, you just re-implement whatever stuff is absolutely time critical. I think Java 7 is going to try to implement some of the stuff that Groovy has, like closures, and get close enough that people aren't going to jump on it. That's unfortunate. I think the combo of the two, as first class citizens, would be great. Code in Groovy if you want something more "scripty", then switch right to java for the other stuff. * RTT - Run Time Typed. I don't say "dynamic" because the word implies better. Try it. Ask a non-tech buddy what is better. Dynamic or static. Guess what the answer will be. Ask the same person if "run time" is better than "compile time". On Tue, Apr 29, 2008 at 3:00 PM, Incognito <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Then I guess there is no reason for me to switch from Java to Python > then. The benefits of using Java as opposed to C, or C++ are very > clear to me. This is my own personal opinion so it may not apply to > everybody. > > C - This is not an object oriented language. You have to manage your > own memory. A misplaced comma will drive the compiler crazy and you > will spend hours trying to find why your program is not compiling. > > C++ - This one is better than C because it has a lot of object > oriented features. You still have to do your own memory management. > Compiler can be just as crazy. It was good while Java was not here but > not anymore, at least not for me. > > Java - Is fully object oriented. It has a garbage collector. It has > the best IDE I've ever used , Eclipse. When there is a sintax error I > know exactly where the problem is. It has the best API documentation > system. To me this is enough to stick with Java. > > Unless a new language goes above and beyond what Java can already do, > i.e. Make it easier and faster to write high quality real world > programs, I don't see the benefit of switching. > > > > > > On Apr 29, 2:40 pm, "John P." <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > oh man, that opens up a can of worms. There will be those who say > > that they're all the same at the assembly level, so no use arguing > > which language is better or not. These will be those who say they can > > write "Hello World" program in python in 5 lines as opposed to Java's > > 10 lines. There will be those who say they like python's scope > > resolution by indention instead of curly braces. Then there will be > > those who disclaim both languages because they're both interpreted as > > opposed to C/C++'s compiled. > > > > But here's the bottom line. You can drink Java but Python is much > > harder to digest. > > > > On Apr 29, 2:25 pm, Incognito <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > > > > > > What does python give me that Java doesn't? Just curious. > > > > > On Apr 29, 4:09 am, Michael Rueger <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > > > Hong Ji wrote: > > > > > > > Consider there are so many client/server Android applications, is it > a > > > > > good idea for all the ADC participants to receive the Google App > Engine > > > > > account invitations asap or at least to be included in the next > 10,000 > > > > > invitations? > > > > > > > Also, it will be great to see Java supported on Google App Engine > > > > > (http://code.google.com/appengine/). > > > > > > Forget it, Python is the new language du jour... > > > > Java is so last millennium... > > > > > > The next Android SDK version will probably be in Python too, that's why > > > > it takes so long and they never care to fix critical bugs in the Java > > > > version ;-) > > > > > > > Michael- Hide quoted text - > > > > - Show quoted text - > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Android Challenge" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/android-challenge?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
