Re: Obj-C vs Java
Re: Obj-C vs Java
- Subject: Re: Obj-C vs Java
- From: Richard Kendall Wolf <email@hidden>
- Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2001 23:25:58 -0500
While I'm aware that there are many technical differences between
Objective-C and Java, my vote has always been to use the language in
which you can program most comfortably -- for that will be the
language in which you will be most productive. I'm not religious
about this in any way -- the more developers "developing," the more
applications we'll have and the better the Mac will be. I prefer
Objective-C only because I'm overwhelmingly more familiar with C than
I am with Java. So I immediately found Objective-C both elegant and
simple to learn. But different strokes for different folks -- if
you're doing Cocoa work in Java, I'm behind you all the way and I'm
glad Apple is as well.
However ... :-)
I've been privately wondering about the future of Java. Consider
that so far as Microsoft is now concerned, Java is no longer a first
class citizen:
http://cnnfn.cnn.com/2001/07/18/technology/microsoft_java/
Although we Mac users can and do matter as regards the future of
Java, it's my belief that Microsoft matters a lot more. Wither
Microsoft developers go, there goes much of the industry (-I- didn't
uphold the "finding of fact" that Microsoft is a monopoly :-)). I'm
certainly reading a bit between the lines, because nothing official
has been said, but my bet is that Microsoft is eventually going to
posit that C# is preferred over Java and VB for serious application
development. In this crazy, future world, Objective-C looks like a
wiser choice because it is simple to learn, elegant, and will,
perhaps, be just as marginalized as Java. However, that's only an
-opinion-/-guess-. Maybe five years from now people will think back
with reverence on Dylan -and- Objective-C.
PS: Okay, this is off-topic too (why not go two-for-two ... get all
the flames over at once? :-)) ... but does anybody know if Apple (or
a third-party) is working on an LDAP v.3 directory services plugin
for the directory services architecture in Mac OS X? I've asked on
another list ... but I think this has the interest value of a clump
of fungus for most people. If no one with more experience is doing
it, I'd like to have a whack at it -- but I can only do it part-time,
and for fun ... and so I wouldn't want to mess with any "serious
effort" someplace else.
Flame away --
mailto:email@hidden -- thanks for listening!