Java Creator James Gosling on C# And More

DreamTheater writes: "Java inventor James Gosling says he isn't losing much sleep over Microsoft these days, despite the software giant's effort to stem Java's popularity with its own Java-like language." Gosling talks about other things in this interview, too, like his current project of developing a good IDE.

Comments

Should be (-1 Astrotufer)

[Martin S.]

C# has already geared itself up for a dominant position in tomorrow's enterprise development environment

This reads like Marketing hype worthy of the FUD-Master General himself.

... its ECMA standardisation

ECMA standardisation is a red herring when it comes to openness. ECMA is a closed organisation. As an individual expert Software Enginner I cannot join and influence language development at ECMA. However I can (and have) joined the JDC and bring my ideas to bear on the development of Java at (http://developer.java.sun.com/). This is open to anybody, including Microsoft.

Furthermore you only have to consider the death of the ECMA standardisation of JavaScript which has been an abysmal failure to seem that, ECMA is not a guarantee of a successful standardisation.

and Microsoft's atypical encouragement of competing implementations

You've obviously not been keeping up on current affairs. Microsoft have been found guilty of anti-competative behaviour in the US and are about to get another nailed in the EU too.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/business/newsid _1 635000/1635317.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/business/newsid _1 697000/1697766.stm

.NET, C# and the CLR is going to vapourise Sun's marketshare in server applications and enterprise programming userbase due to sheer openness.

Hardly likely; Microsoft have minimal existing presence (or mindshare) in the heavy weight enterprise sector. As long as they stick to the attitude of stick security, robustness and quality, they never will.

once Microsoft's asserted their dominance in the field, .NET won't remain an open standard for long.

The only truth, in your entire post, Embrace and Extend.

Perhaps we need another Moderation option (-1 Astrotufer).

C# and .NET will NEVER be cross-platform

[javacowboy]

Hmmmm....I originally submitted this story this morning, about 6 hours before this story was posted on Slashdot, and it was promptly rejected.....

Anyway, if you talk to just about any serious Java developer, they will tell you the same thing I'm about to tell you now. Noone will buy M$'s assertion that C# will be cross-platform for the simple reason that it's Microsoft. Microsoft depends upon a Windows monopoly, and for that reason, it will do nothing to support other platforms. If they did, they would have made Linux versions of Office, Internet Explorer, Media Player, etc. Noone trusts them to make *ANY* product cross-platform. Their history clearly demonstrates this pattern.

The reason why most developers use Java is because they KNOW they can compile it on one platform, and then run it on another. I know it's not perfectly platform-independent, but it comes pretty close. Switching from Java makes no sense if this cross-platform utility is compromised, or even made uncertain.

Besides, Java has a proven track record and is *EXTREMELY* well documented. If I need info on any class, package or utility, it's just a few clicks away in the HTML javadocs. Also, I can document my all of my OWN code with only a single text command: javadoc. Thus everyone will be able to read my own documentation in the same format and with the same easy of use as the Sun Java documentation. Every product Microsoft has attempted to document, especially Visual Basic, has been very difficult to get pertinent information on.

I can run, compile and deploy a Java application using nothing but the free JDK and J2EE from the Sun site, a simple text editor, a command prompt (whether Windows or Linux), a text-line compiler (like Jakarta Ant), and a free application server (like Tomcat). I don't even need a GUI, save for the browser to test my web application. I don't have to shell out $1,000 for Visual Studio to learn, use, program and deploy a Java application. The web application I'm developing for my company has thus far cost us $0 in development costs (aside from my salary and maintaining the hardware it will run on).

I'm sorry, but I don't believe that Microsoft will make any of their prodocols and/or products truly open, documented or free. The openness, documentation and free cost of Java, as well as its cross-platform capabilities make Java and excellent development platform, and these three advantages, by their intrinsic nature, conflict with Microsoft's intrinsic nature and will never be successfully duplicated by that company.