On Sat, 7 Sep 2002, James Santagata wrote:
> >From: "Gary James" <garyjames@flashmail.com>
> >
> > I hate to see this Java bashing (especially off topic Java bashing).
>
> It's quite unfair to characterize cogent and objective discussions
> of some of Java's shortcomings as "bashing".
I think it is. The original point was just that, given the choice
between Java and C, Java will let you write more secure software.
Some on this list have been interpreting this as "Java guarantees
the security of the entire system," and attacking that statement.
Well, the only people who ever said that are the ones attacking
that statement. It's a straw man.
Yes, your operating system may have buffer overflows. Yes, your
web server may have buffer overflows. Changing from Java to C won't
fix those. That doesn't change the fact that, if you write your
application in C, your code is highly likely to have buffer overflows,
and if you write your application in Java, your code won't. Period.
That's all that I'm saying.
> ...which was related
> to Sun's false claim that Java is "write once run anywhere".
It depends on the application. Java is, for many applications that
run on a full size VM, pretty much "write once run anywhere." I
can take a Tomcat application and move it to BEA without changing
a line of code. I can can run either of those on Windows or Unix.
That's a pretty good achievement.
The marketing guys are obviously, when they give you this phrase,
not giving you a long list of qualifications for it. If this comes
as a surprise to you, well, you're pretty naive. Next time, before
believing the marketing hype, just have a qualified technical person
have a quick look at it, and he'll tell you, for your particular
application, how likely it is to be portable.
> Many people (especially in managerial positions who don't have hands
> on programming experience) believe Sun's hype -- no wonder they are
> upset when the prime premise of Java's advantages turns out to be an
> empty cup of coffee.
These people are going to be upset no matter what. Anybody who
blindly believes marketing rather than doing proper technical
planning is doomed, regardless of whether they use Java or not.
cjs
--
Curt Sampson <cjs_at_cynic.net> +81 90 7737 2974 http://www.netbsd.org
Don't you know, in this new Dark Age, we're all light. --XTC
Received on Sun Sep 8 23:52:32 2002