Java _is_ quite good [was: "Visual Python"]

Dan Connolly (connolly@www18.cern.ch)
17 Apr 1995 04:03:29 GMT

In article <3mlfj7$s0v@engr.orst.edu> hackbod@newt.CS.ORST.EDU (Dianne Hackborn) writes:

Look at <http://java.sun.com/>.

I would be interested if anyone here has comments about the language. I've
glanced a bit at it, but haven't yet played with it enough to get any ideas
about what it is like. I will say that I found some of their marketdroid
claims to be somewhat... questionable. Sounds like The Perfect Language
For Everything. :}

It is. :-)

But seriously: James Gosling and friends at Sun have put in several
man-years on the Java project. And they've come up with something
that I believe is going to have an impact on scripting, the internet,
and the web.

It's just enough C++ to make that crowd happy. But look under the
covers, and you'll find a Smalltakish VM. Python should compile
to the Java VM quite nicely. Or scheme, or python, or Rexx...

And I haven't reviewed this part closely, but they've attacked the
"cross platform GUI API" problem. The Abstract Window Toolkit is their
answer to X/Mac/Windows compatibility. Right now, the implementation
depends on Motif and only runs on X (solaris, in fact.) But I'm
encouraged by what I see.

JoeBob says "check it out."

Dan

--
Daniel W. Connolly        "We believe in the interconnectedness of all things"
Research Technical Staff, MIT/W3C
<connolly@w3.org>             http://www.w3.org/hypertext/WWW/People/Connolly