Alain: Is this true? Is Java as fast as C++? Add to
that Java's security features and portability ... It
makes me think that we should re-consider it for the
development of OpenKard. This is merely a suggestion,
however, because I am not among the programmers, and
our programmers have already rejected Java in favor of
C/C++
Yennie: I can't quote any numbers, but it seems to me
that C++ code of any value will be significantly
faster than java well into the forseable future, on
all platforms. Java in general is SLOW, and Mac java
is especially slow.
Alain: That was my general impression of Java as well.
It is sloooowwww. The Virtual Machine makes Java slow,
in principle, because a virtual machine is basically
emulation, and emulation is always slower than the
real thing. Add to that the fact that, in the context
of the Web, everything that the applet needs is
downloaded dynamically and not cached, makes for very
slow response times. This said, I did recently witness
a java applet that kicked ass. It implemented a
collapsible HFS in the menu frame that was lightning
fast, and nearly impossible to do elegantly without
Java.
Yennie: Since C++ is not going anywhere (and 99%
portable if you write it carefully), I am among the
programmers who would not even consider java as an
option.
Alain: I expected that this would be the case. But
perhaps it is not so much Java that is interesting, as
it is its underlying concepts e.g. the Virtual Machine
that can run anywhere securely. Would it be possible
to implement these concepts into OpenKard, without a
single drop of Java? Does such an idea appeal to the
programmers of our group?
Yennie: It would be like scratching out the Mona Lisa
with my fingernails. Yeah, you could do it, but I'd
have a lot more luck with a brush and some paint.
Alain: Nice colorful metaphor, Brian.
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