Re: ObJC vs. Java -- NEWBIE
Re: ObJC vs. Java -- NEWBIE
- Subject: Re: ObJC vs. Java -- NEWBIE
- From: Karl Kuehn <email@hidden>
- Date: Thu, 5 Feb 2004 09:09:21 -0500
On Feb 5, 2004, at 7:36 AM, Lotsa Cabo wrote:
The app is a simple compiled app that accesses web services from a
.NET server, modifies XML files locally, and uploads the XML blobs. I
am most familiar with Java, VB, VB.NET, and C#. The most natural type
of project for me would be a Cocoa-Java app. Unfortunately, I'm
worried about the deployability and speed of the app.
And the questions begin...
1. If I code my Cocoa app using Java, how much slower than Objective-C
will Java be?
This depends on a lot of things, chiefly:
Are you thinking of using Java interfaces (AWT, Swing, etc..) or
Cocoa interfaces? The Cocoa interfaces are very fast, and fully native,
you app will look and feel like any other MacOS X application. The Java
interface methods can be a bit slower (there are lots of tricks, and
they are not the same tricks as on other platforms), don't quite look
native, and don't feel like MacOS X. However, you can (more) easily
port this to other platforms (more testing/tweaking than re-writing).
Does your application do a lot of processing. If you are working on
an app that burns through bits, you can usually squeeze more of of C
than Java, but on big number crunches Java is surprisingly good.
2. For the .NET WebService access, which is better, Java or ObjC?
If I remember right, .NET has it's own dialect of SOAP, and there are
SOAP methods for both Java and Obj-C. There might be more libraries out
there written in Java to make the specific SOAP calls the .NET is
expecting.
3. For XML parsing, which is better, Java or ObjC?
There are lots of libraries out there for both, including a shared one
from Apple.
4. Each time I have installed an app on my new PowerBook, I've had to
copy one object (I think it's a "bundle") from a drive image to my
Applications directory. I think this is a great install process. If
I code my app using Java, will I be able to use this type of install
method when my app is distributed?
More-or-less yes. You might have to make sure that you are including
everything in the .app package, but this is the goal for installing.
5. Java apps on Windows are ugly. If I code my app in Java, will the
user know that it's Java when it's running?
See the answer to question 1
6. The few lines of Objective-C that I have seen has no resemblance to
any language that I'm familiar with. Considering I will be developing
on a Mac and M$ platform for years, is there any major benefit to
learning Objective-C?
The major benefit is an elegant language. If you want to get your feet
we Apple includes some nice documentation:
file:///Developer/Documentation/Cocoa/Conceptual/ObjectiveC/index.html
In short, I'm trying to figure out which language to use. Thanks, in
advance, for those of you that choose to answer / respond.
There are advantages to both. If you want quick portability use pure
Java (not great looking... but quick). If you really divorce the
working code from the interface code, then porting the apps later would
be simpler in any language.
Karl Kuehn
email@hidden
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