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Java's Backup Plan If Oracle Fumbles

Posted by timothy on from the enough-java-should-keep-you-awake dept.

GMGruman writes "In an InfoWorld blog, Paul Krill suggests that those concerned that Java might get lost in Oracle's tangle of acquired technologies should relax a little: Java's future isn't wholly in Oracle's hands, so if Oracle screws up or lets Java languish, the popular language has other forces to move it forward nonetheless."

1 of 276 comments (clear)

  1. Re:What could possibly go wrong ... by kaffiene · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Rubbish, Java *is* especially cross platform when compared to other languages. For example, C - which you cite.

    If you write a simple command line app, then sure, C and Java are about as cross platform capable as each other. Write a GUI app in C and Java and the former has no cross platform options.

    In C, you have to worry about endianness, in Java you don't.

    In C, you have to allow that primitives types may have different sizes, in Java you don't.

    In C, you have to allow that structures might pack differently, in Java you don't.

    In C, critical issues like threading will be platform dependant or non-existent, in Java it's consistent and standard.

    Java also has a consistent memory model, which provides a lot of value in working cross platform as well as the huge common library which is likewise valuable.

    I could go on, but I think that's sufficient to call BS on your claim.

    In Haskell or JavaScript, there are nowhere near as large *common* sets of libraries, so you can't as easily rely on your library of choice being supported on a client system.

    Christ, JavaScript doesn't run the same browser to browser, let alone cross platform.