From: "Matt Hebley" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > i went from C -> Java, and, never bothered with C++ *g* - thats part of > > I went from C -> Java -> C and boy did it suck. It was like taking a giant > leap back in time... > > (get the boiling oil ready...) > I'm interested in this conversation (in spite of it's flamewar potential) because we're in the process of evaluating tools for our ongoing development under PalmOS.
A couple of our programmers found PalmOS and C refreshing because you were 'closer' to the machine. Less uncertainty meant that the bugs were generally in your code rather than the OS and the bugs that were PalmOS were generally easy to test for or known. I think part of what muddies the C/C++ debate is that under Windows C++ is generally used for larger, more complex systems where the modularity and intelligence of classes can be really useful. For smaller jobs the difference between C and C++ becomes less significant. This means that C++ is generally remembered as complex and demanding because of the project itself rather than the language. In the same way I think what our programmers found good about C under PalmOS wasn't the step to C (I'd forgotten a whole raft of pain while working with C++/VB and was reminded again under PalmOS) but the fact that they were generally writing small, simple apps with less conceptual complexity. I agree that I've stuck with C under PalmOS because of uncertainty about PalmOS' ability to handle C++ but I'm getting more and more interested in moving. Every time I have to search through code looking for some place where required cleanup hasn't happened that little voice says "Hey, that could have been coded once in a destructor and this bug wouldn't be happening". The issues about large apps were concerning me (because our contracts are for apps that have significant functionality) but I'm moving more and more towards coding for PalmOS using sets of small, focussed applications that share common databases. With a shared or static lib for common functionality I think this approach avoids the problems of large apps under PalmOS while still allowing significant functionality. In this approach C++ has some solid benefits. A senior designer lays out the databases and the objects that provide core functionality and junior programmers then code the interfaces on this foundation. Without C++ there's more that the juniors have to be aware of in the way of freeing resources and disconnecting links. Hmm, I might have just convinced myself. Chris Tutty -- For information on using the Palm Developer Forums, or to unsubscribe, please see http://www.palmos.com/dev/support/forums/
