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Summary of JDK1.5 Language Changes
An anonymous reader writes "Over at java.sun.com, there's an informative article about the new features in JDK1.5. Some of the changes like generics are nice and should make some things easier. Some of the enhancements to me are purely sugar, like enumerators. When it comes down to it, once the code is compiled, it's the same. The thing I hope is, some of this new syntactic sugar doesn't result in more obfuscated code. Unlike some people, I feel using programming shorthand leads to increased maintenance. This is especially true when you have to debug a complex application."
Emacs, of course. Syntax highlighting, integrated compiling, etc.
*puts on flamesuit*
This looks to me like they are changing a language so that existing apps no longer compile which is a bad idea. While I like many features of Java, I try hard to avoid authoring code in a language that has unstable syntax which results in a flux in the semantics. While it is O.K. to extend the language, the grammar has changed and many existing apps are not likely to compile without manual intervention (otherwise the compilers would be smart enough to figure it out). It is exactly this kind of "oh, we will revise the standard" years after the initial offering that hinders wide spread adoption, and opens the doors for the competitors (e.g. .NET).
the strongly typed language, that was good in 1996, now is weakly typed, now THAT's good in 2003, can anyone explain this to me?
Je t'aime Stéphanie