Re:Java is bad for our industry
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Head First Java
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· Score: 1
But a primary language to teach computer science fundamentals, it is not.
Correct, in as far as you can't really learn computer science fundamentals by focusing on only one language. A CS degree should introduce you to various programming disciplines, of which OO is just one. For example, on my BSc course, I learned OOP, functional programming, assembly, Prolog and Occam.
Clearly Java is useless for teaching low-level coding or functional programming, but as a language for teaching OOP, Java is a good choice. Certainly better than C++ in that it was designed as an OO language from the beginning and lacks many of the gotchas that trip up the beginner in C++. The Smalltalk crowd may argue that their language would be even more suitable, and they may be right, though perhaps you can forgive the educational institutions for allowing some degree of pragmatism in their choice (Java will be of more immediate use to a graduate than Smalltalk, though - as you alluded to - an understanding of the underlying concepts, independent of the particular language, is the most important thing).
You don't have to pay money for Opera, you can use it indefinitely in ad-supported mode. Unless you use a low screen resolution, the ads are unobtrusive.
It's strange to think that Opera is now the only commercially developed web browser (well the only one with even slightly noticeable market share) now that Netscape is dead and IE moth-balled.
That's a very interesting point you make, certainly deserving of +1 insightful, I had read the article and hadn't made the connection until I saw your post.
It was on the register the other day, here's the link.
I use Opera, but I don't use most of the mouse gestures. However, there are two that are enabled even when the others are switched off that are indispensible. If you hold down the left button and click the right one you go back, and vice-versa takes you forward. Once you get used to this it's very difficult to stop, and if you use another browser you get frustrated because you try it and you end up with some context menu or other popping up.
Concorde? Granted, Air France have stopped using it and BA will do too in a few months, but Richard Branson may yet intervene. But we've had supersonic trans-atlantic flights for a quarter of a century. You can fly London to New York and arrive "earlier" than when you left.
I'm a Java developer with a lot of experience with Swing, and I have to say the Oracle Java-based tools are some of the slowest, ugliest Swing apps I've seen.
For much better examples have a look at JGoodies or some of the apps on Swing Sightings (it's a mixed bag but some of them are very good).
Bullshit. Any novice Windows user can easily pick out Java Swing apps in "native look and feel". They look similar, but not the same
This used to be the case but there have been massive improvements. Since 1.4, Swing apps are, with only two very minor exceptions, completely indistinguishable from native apps. One thing that betrays them are the default icons in trees (you can replace these with less ugly icons). The other is that title bars on internal frames when running under XP are classic Windows style rather than XP style (fixed in the new XP look-and-feel in 1.4.2).
If you were running, on Windows, one of the GUIs developed at our company, you wouldn't know they were Java apps unless I told you.
Now if you are running on Linux, Swing apps look ugly because there is no QT or GTK look-and-feel so you have to use either the Java default or Motif (GTK is coming in 1.4.2). So under Linux they are easily identifiable, but Sun have done a lot of work to make them look native on Windows.
By all accounts, Apple's look-and-feel for MacOS X is equally good.
I would interpret all third parties as all the people you distribute to. If the intention of the license is to make the source available to everybody surely it would be worded more explicitly?
They only have to provide the source to those whom they provide the binaries to.
If Acme Software modifies a GPL program and gives it to the UK government only, they are only obligated to provide the source to the UK government. If nobody else has the binaries, nobody else gets the source.
To elaborate, in the EU you cannot be forced to work more than 48 hours per week. You may volunteer to work more than 48 hours, but your employer cannot insist that you do and may not punish you for refusing to.
There was a minor fuss when this EU regulation was incorporated into UK law, but it seems to have had no negative effect and provides protection for workers.
Maybe things are moving in that direction but it won't happen quickly if it happens at all. Even if Microsoft stopped making money completely, didn't earn another penny, they have enough cash in the bank to pay every one of their 40,000 employees for the next five years.
Yeah but Oracle's proprietary format is not used so much to exchange information between different entities. When was the last time to attached an Oracle database to an e-mail?
anyways.. how about broadcasting digital signals instead?
That's what they do in the UK. They still broadcast the major five national stations and the regional variations on analogue, but they also broadcast them on digital along with several other free-to-air stations. You pay a one-off fee (£99) for the equipment (if you don't have a digital TV, or satellite/cable receiver) but apart from that it's free.
Sure, it's possible to generate a class file with invalid, 'dangerous' byte code by using a Java assembler, but it won't pass the mandatory verification stage of the virtual machine.
And if said aliens turn out to be hostile, all those cricket bats and football hooligans can finally come in handy.
No, we actually use baseball bats, they're more suitable. Nobody in Britain plays baseball but every sports shop has a good selection of baseball bats despite that.
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But a primary language to teach computer science fundamentals, it is not.
Correct, in as far as you can't really learn computer science fundamentals by focusing on only one language. A CS degree should introduce you to various programming disciplines, of which OO is just one. For example, on my BSc course, I learned OOP, functional programming, assembly, Prolog and Occam.
Clearly Java is useless for teaching low-level coding or functional programming, but as a language for teaching OOP, Java is a good choice. Certainly better than C++ in that it was designed as an OO language from the beginning and lacks many of the gotchas that trip up the beginner in C++. The Smalltalk crowd may argue that their language would be even more suitable, and they may be right, though perhaps you can forgive the educational institutions for allowing some degree of pragmatism in their choice (Java will be of more immediate use to a graduate than Smalltalk, though - as you alluded to - an understanding of the underlying concepts, independent of the particular language, is the most important thing).
You don't have to pay money for Opera, you can use it indefinitely in ad-supported mode. Unless you use a low screen resolution, the ads are unobtrusive.
It's strange to think that Opera is now the only commercially developed web browser (well the only one with even slightly noticeable market share) now that Netscape is dead and IE moth-balled.
That's a very interesting point you make, certainly deserving of +1 insightful, I had read the article and hadn't made the connection until I saw your post. It was on the register the other day, here's the link.
the second law of thermodynamics is only a statistical law
I'm not a physicist, but I thought the first two laws of thermodynamics were:
1. You do not talk about thermodynamics.
2. You do not talk about thermodynamics.
Maybe I'm getting confused with something else.
The BBC also has the story, as well as news of a glitch with Europe's Mars Exrpess.
Bush has already got that one covered.
Opera maybe is fast but i use Linux so Mozilla is my choice
Opera is available for Linux as well, and now Linux development has caught up with the Windows version so it has all the same features.
I use Opera, but I don't use most of the mouse gestures. However, there are two that are enabled even when the others are switched off that are indispensible. If you hold down the left button and click the right one you go back, and vice-versa takes you forward. Once you get used to this it's very difficult to stop, and if you use another browser you get frustrated because you try it and you end up with some context menu or other popping up.
Concorde? Granted, Air France have stopped using it and BA will do too in a few months, but Richard Branson may yet intervene. But we've had supersonic trans-atlantic flights for a quarter of a century. You can fly London to New York and arrive "earlier" than when you left.
I think it might be best to do it on a totally-provably licence compliant Windows system.
Actually, SCO would have you believe that Solaris is the only safe option.
40% of my salary is going for Microsofot software!
You get paid $1.1775 billion?
I'm a Java developer with a lot of experience with Swing, and I have to say the Oracle Java-based tools are some of the slowest, ugliest Swing apps I've seen.
For much better examples have a look at JGoodies or some of the apps on Swing Sightings (it's a mixed bag but some of them are very good).
Bullshit. Any novice Windows user can easily pick out Java Swing apps in "native look and feel". They look similar, but not the same
This used to be the case but there have been massive improvements. Since 1.4, Swing apps are, with only two very minor exceptions, completely indistinguishable from native apps. One thing that betrays them are the default icons in trees (you can replace these with less ugly icons). The other is that title bars on internal frames when running under XP are classic Windows style rather than XP style (fixed in the new XP look-and-feel in 1.4.2).
If you were running, on Windows, one of the GUIs developed at our company, you wouldn't know they were Java apps unless I told you.
Now if you are running on Linux, Swing apps look ugly because there is no QT or GTK look-and-feel so you have to use either the Java default or Motif (GTK is coming in 1.4.2). So under Linux they are easily identifiable, but Sun have done a lot of work to make them look native on Windows.
By all accounts, Apple's look-and-feel for MacOS X is equally good.
I would interpret all third parties as all the people you distribute to. If the intention of the license is to make the source available to everybody surely it would be worded more explicitly?
They only have to provide the source to those whom they provide the binaries to.
If Acme Software modifies a GPL program and gives it to the UK government only, they are only obligated to provide the source to the UK government. If nobody else has the binaries, nobody else gets the source.
Find out.
To elaborate, in the EU you cannot be forced to work more than 48 hours per week. You may volunteer to work more than 48 hours, but your employer cannot insist that you do and may not punish you for refusing to.
There was a minor fuss when this EU regulation was incorporated into UK law, but it seems to have had no negative effect and provides protection for workers.
Just curious (in a serious way), is anybody actually using a beowolf cluster for anything important?
Yes, I'm using one as part of a thought exercise to improve my imagination.
Maybe things are moving in that direction but it won't happen quickly if it happens at all. Even if Microsoft stopped making money completely, didn't earn another penny, they have enough cash in the bank to pay every one of their 40,000 employees for the next five years.
Yeah but Oracle's proprietary format is not used so much to exchange information between different entities. When was the last time to attached an Oracle database to an e-mail?
No, it's a quarter full.
anyways.. how about broadcasting digital signals instead?
That's what they do in the UK. They still broadcast the major five national stations and the regional variations on analogue, but they also broadcast them on digital along with several other free-to-air stations. You pay a one-off fee (£99) for the equipment (if you don't have a digital TV, or satellite/cable receiver) but apart from that it's free.
Sure, it's possible to generate a class file with invalid, 'dangerous' byte code by using a Java assembler, but it won't pass the mandatory verification stage of the virtual machine.
Unless you turn the verifier off.
And if said aliens turn out to be hostile, all those cricket bats and football hooligans can finally come in handy.
No, we actually use baseball bats, they're more suitable. Nobody in Britain plays baseball but every sports shop has a good selection of baseball bats despite that.
Please mod this up so my server survives.
Yeah, and you'd better mod this post up as well or I'll...er...kill a kitten.