Re: why not Java?

["Steve Poling" <sdpoling@xxxxxxxx>]

+1 C/C++

of course, if you're into a lot of dynamic memory allocation stuff, Java has
automatic garbage collection. This makes a number of really tough bugs in
C/C++ nonexistent. (memory leakage, dangling pointers, memory overruns,
etc.)

Sadly, there's no Gnu compiler for Java. Since last fall, Sun has been
recalling that they make an operating system (Solaris) that competes with
Linux. Hence, they've withdrawn from standards bodies and have been acting
much more cooly towards Linux. This makes me think Kava may be the right
(open source) answer.

Obviously, the price of gcc is the same as what jdk1.2.2 will cost you. So,
what I'd do is toss a coin and use that language to learn on. What you'll
learn in either language will be applicable to the other. It is a good thing
to learn for oneself just how hard diagnosing memory bugs is. But that
learning impacts personal productivity.

You really have an embarassment of riches where it comes to languages to
pick from. Perl, Python, Tcl are also free and very powerful. Each handles
different problems better than others. I suggest you pick up the archives of
the klug listserv and read the discussion on languages that occured a few
months back. Else we'll all feel tempted to merely repeat what we all said
and read then.

smiles and cheers,

steve