Java To Overtake C/C++ in 2002

jarek writes "ZDNET has an article that talks about latest research data. It talks about how Java is overtaking C/C++ next year. The article also talks about developers adopting linux and putting linux to use in mission critical tasks." It's evidently taking developers from the C/C++, but also the Visual Basic camps, with strong growth overseas.

Comments

Re:Java as a teaching language

[roguerez]

In my university (vrije universiteit in Amsterdam) you get an introductory course in programming in Java, then a datastructures course in Java and a course in x86 assembly.

Then, an introductory course in C/C++ is given and a software engineering course in Java w/ Swing follows. Then you get a large course in plain C, and depending on the direction of your studies, you'll get one or more large courses using C, C++, Prolog, Miranda, Java, or whatever is best suited for the job.

I think the choice for Java for the introductory and software engineering stuff is great, because in these applications you don't want or need the low level stuff in which C is good.

Furthermore Java looks relatively 'clean' and is suited well to learn imperative as well as OO concepts.

True, to an certain extent

[roguerez]

With JIT compilers becoming faster and faster, and the paradigm shift of user applications from autonomous programs to web applications, Java is becoming more important.

However, C and C++ will remain very important, for example for system programming. A lot of Unices, MacOS and Windows are built on these two languages. Component, object and application frameworks like MFC, KDE, QT are written in them. A very large application base is written in them and it will not be replaced overnight.

I don't think Java will ever completely take over C/C++, simply because the hardware accessibility just isn't in Java and you need it when programming an OS.

But when building a new application, Java is more often than not a better choice than C/C++, simple because it was build with networking in mind.

The library base and more

[Midnight Thunder]

One thing that I appreciate with Java is the huge library base that it has. There are classes that allow you to do most things without having to hunt for a 3rd party solution or rewriting the wheel inhouse. Also, some of the most commonly used data structures are standard, eg Strings, and you don't need a separate proto-language to put together classes - yes I'm talking about having no need for STL.

Java does have it draw-backs, such as speed, but this is quickly becoming a non issue on modern computers. Of course computationally intensive work will alway be done in C or C++ that can be compiled to take full advantage of the processor. Another draw-back is that it is very difficult to take full advantage of the underlying OS without writing code using JNI, and thus loosing some protability.

Yes I am very much pro Java, though I also realise that it can't do everything. It will always be a question of the best tool for the job.

Sweet Fucking Christ

[szcx]

So Evans Data Corp. presented a "study" that was funded by IBM at an IBM conference that said Java is going to take over the world and that Linux is swell. Well color me the suprised.

Seriously, folks. Does one avoid taking this kind of study with a grain of salt simply because it supports a Slashdot Approved Technology?

If this had been a study sponsored by Microsoft presented at a Microsoft conference supporting Microsoft technologies, people would be gathering up the pitchforks and flaming torches.

Feel free to mod this down to the pits of Hell, but we both know it's true.

Re:Less Visual Basic Programmers

[ackthpt]

We've had to adopt VB at work, and it's easy where problems will crop up and how weak documentation for a One Vendor product can be. When I visited Computer Literacy, in San Jose, I expected to see many texts on VB and related subjects. What blew me away was the plethora of Java texts. If the books didn't sell, they wouldn't have them.

On a second thought, Java _was_ wildly popular among many of the dotbombs. Possibly the study is based too heavily on that time period. Does it still hold it's proportion of growth, or are IT shops, like us, drifting toward VB and other M$ development languages/suites?

Programming for Business

[whjwhj]

OK I've read a dozen or so posts dissing Java because it's "Stupid" or "Slow" or "None of the apps I run are written in Java" or whatever -- which forces me to say this: Programmers who write in Java are writing code for distributed enterprise applications. They're professional computer programmers, not ether breathing geeks such as ourselves. I say it's waaaay past time that we all collectively pull our heads out of our asses and realize that the world doesn't revolve around Linux/Perl/GCC and Kernel patches!! There's a whole world of programmers out there (who DON'T generally post to this forum because they're too busy getting work done) who don't live and breath everything Linux day in and day out. They work for a living.

End of Rant.

Depends on your definition of "overtake"..

[Bowie J. Poag]

The study cited in this article refers to the number of people with Java skills, not the number of programs released. To quote:

"Java usage is even stronger outside North America, with almost 60 percent of developers expecting to spend some part of their programming time using Java."

This is one of those misleading statistics, like "Half of all marriages end in divorce".. What most people fail to realize is that the statement is not factually concise.. There are idiot-men and idiot-women who get married and divorced several times, which accounts for a disproportionately high "overall" divorce rate. The percentage of successful marriages is actually much higher, just the same as the number of coders actively writing in C all the time is much higher than the number of coders actively writing in Java all the time.

Lame article.