> My take on cross platform development is as follows: > > Don't use C/C++. The performance benefit of compiled code vs. > interpreted or vm code is small, and the inability to have a universal > binary is a big draw back.
There are problems with relying on a universal program approach as well. Many run time environments for Java, Python, Ruby, and the rest all have their quirks or incompatibilities between versions, and this isn't even counting the third party libraries you may want to use. I agree that things have gotten better here but there are still many dark corners even for mature runtimes like Java's. Getting the user to install the right version of the run time and third party libraries and requiring the user to maintain yet-another-interpreter-or-vm is a large burden just to run one more application. Linux distributions are fairly good at helping out, but usually one distribution sticks with one (maybe two) versions of an interpreter or vm and associated libraries. Developing cross-platform just for those can be tricky since each one may be on a different version. Throw in Windows and OS/X and the simple write-and-release dream isn't so simple any more. I can't count how many times I've had to dumb down scripts in many languages to use ugly, painful workarounds so that it can be run on older and newer interpreters alike, just so it can be more portable. It's very painful when you can't use the latest and greatest because it's just too hard to get users to upgrade the basics on their systems - and I don't think they should have to. Once I started distributing native programs (sometimes linking in a language interpreter when I need scripting) distribution and compatibility became an order of magnitude easier. Programs that rely only on things like the C library and perhaps a GUI library make the user's life much easier. Related to this topic, I've been particularly interested in high level languages that compile to native code (Haskell, O'Caml, the PyPy work, etc). I hope the future is more along these lines. -Frank -- _______________________________________________ Mid-Hudson Valley Linux Users Group http://mhvlug.org http://mhvlug.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mhvlug Upcoming Meetings (6pm - 8pm) MHVLS Auditorium Sep 3 - Porkchop - The Areas of My Expertise Oct 1 - Ubikeys Oct 4 - Linux Fest Nov 5 - Releasing Open Source Software Dec 3 - TBD
