The article obviously uses "complexity" and "simple" in very different ways, they're certainly not portrayed as opposites. In fact, some effort has been made to show that there's more complexity arising from the "deliberately simple" language.
It certainly doesn't help that both phrases are overloaded in common usage. Any programming language could be described as both complex and simple, given an appropriate interpretation of these terms. This does appear to be causing the author a certain amount of difficulty... Either way, I think the intended take home message is that Scala is best positioned as an alternative to dynamic languages (I'm suspecting Ruby, Javascript and Groovy here) instead of as a successor to Java. It's a very interesting claim to make, given that Scala is statically typed. On 14 September 2010 12:28, Ricky Clarkson <[email protected]> wrote: > Fabrizio, > > I'm not following this thread properly, but I'll just note that Scala > is intentionally simple. It has more features than Java, but less > pointless complexity. E.g. in Java, arrays and generics are > incompatible, generics don't work with primitive types, varargs don't > work with generics (same as the first problem), etc. Scala has none > of these problems. I could probably think of more given more time > than I have right now. I'd at least like to have come up with some > that aren't related to generics! > > Ricky. > > -- > Ricky Clarkson > Java and Scala Programmer, AD Holdings > +44 1928 706373 > Skype: ricky_clarkson > > > > On Tue, Sep 14, 2010 at 11:48 AM, Fabrizio Giudici > <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- > > Hash: SHA1 > > > > On 9/14/10 12:26 , Kevin Wright wrote: > >> I especially like the way that the fourth paragraph refers to > >> "the conceptual complexity of using it (java)" followed almost > >> immediately by "it is deliberately simple" > >> > >> I'm not certain how to best interpret this, but there is an > >> impression here that Java is "deliberately simple" in the same > >> sense as some computer helpdesks, or government paperwork. So the > >> phrase carries a double-edged meaning. > >> > >> Overall, I'm in general agreement with the article, and feel that > >> it captures some important points. Although I fear that the title > >> may be too easily misinterpreted, especially if you don't read the > >> body text... > >> > >> http://john.freml.in/scala-is-not-a-better-java > >> > > "Java is culturally opposed to these ideas: it is deliberately simple > > <http://java.sun.com/docs/white/langenv/Simple.doc.html>." > > > > Well, so I presume I'm not wrong if I infer that "Scala is > > deliberately complex"? :-) Happy to see that, since I've been > > repeating the same thing for months. > > > > "After the HotJava experiment failed perhaps it's time to admit that > > all three major webbrowsers (Mozilla Gecko, Webkit, and Internet > > Explorer) are all written in C++ for real reasons and not just force > > of habit." > > > > So, what? What would be those real reasons for which Java failed in > > delivering a web browser? And given that we're in a Scala discussion, > > what's the matter? Does the writer mean that Scala, in opposition to > > Java, would be successful for implementing a real world web browser? > > > > - -- > > Fabrizio Giudici - Java Architect, Project Manager > > Tidalwave s.a.s. - "We make Java work. Everywhere." > > java.net/blog/fabriziogiudici - www.tidalwave.it/people > > [email protected] > > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- > > Version: GnuPG/MacGPG2 v2.0.14 (Darwin) > > Comment: Using GnuPG with Mozilla - http://enigmail.mozdev.org/ > > > > iEYEARECAAYFAkyPUuAACgkQeDweFqgUGxdMEACgtTkw9T54xBxtCCecAmhmLHFa > > y+4An0BozC6/E8MZtu5njnRVhZ9FBMKx > > =L5vm > > -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- > > > > -- > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "The Java Posse" group. > > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]<javaposse%[email protected]> > . > > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/javaposse?hl=en. > > > > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "The Java Posse" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]<javaposse%[email protected]> > . > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/javaposse?hl=en. > > -- Kevin Wright mail / gtalk / msn : [email protected] pulse / skype: kev.lee.wright twitter: @thecoda -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "The Java Posse" 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/javaposse?hl=en.
