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Java and the new Internet programming paradigm

An excerpt from <em>Rise & Resurrection of the American Programmer</em>

By Edward Yourdon, JavaWorld.com, 08/01/96

Page 3 of 7

• The Java compiler, javac, which translates human-readable Java source code to architecture-neutral bytecodes.
  
  
• The Java interpreter, which executes Java programs on the user's PC or workstation.
  
  
• The C header and source file generator, javah and java_g. These are used to generate header files for C, as well as source files for making "methods" (roughly equivalent to procedures or subroutines in other languages) within Java.
  
  
• The Java disassembler, javap, which prints out information about a class file (a file containing a Java applet).
  
  
• The document generator, javadoc, which is capable of generating an HTML file from a Java source-code file.
  
  
• The profiling tool, javaprof, which formats the performance data created if the programmer uses the -prof option in the Java interpreter to obtain statistics on run time and performance.

Simplicity and familiarity
By basing the language on C++, Sun obviously hoped to take advantage of a large installed base of experienced C++ programmers; in so doing, they were able to make use of important features of object orientation, which Microsoft will find far more difficult to do if it continues using Visual Basic as the foundation of its Internet programming technology. (Visual Basic supports the concept of encapsulation, for example, but does not support inheritance or polymorphism.)

Further, as we'll see in the more detailed discussion of the Java language below, Sun has removed several of the more esoteric and troublesome features of C++, such as multiple inheritance and pointer arithmetic. The primary reason for doing this was to ensure robust behavior, but it has also resulted in the creation of a language that's easier to learn and understand. And in the tradition of C++ and other object-oriented languages, Java gives access to existing libraries of tested objects that provide functionality ranging from basic data types to network interfaces and GUI toolkits.

Though experienced programmers may find Java easy to learn, neophytes and users probably won't have the same experience. As Andrew Leonard points out in a recent issue of Web Review:

A more critical question is what effect Java-esque technologies are having on the average individual's ability to use the Net/Web creatively. The online universe is becoming more complex. Is it leaving us behind? Forget about The Future of the Net. Time to switch memes. What about The End of the Net as We Know It? Once upon a time, the World Wide Web was a truly democratic medium. Learning enough HTML to put up a Web page took an afternoon. Anybody could become publisher of their own Webzine. As a petri dish for Do-It-Yourself cultures, the Web offered astonishing potential. That was then. Try learning to write a Java applet in an afternoon. Unless you're already an accomplished programmer, the kind of person who spits out Perl scripts like sunflower seed shells or reads C++ manuals as if they were comic books, you might find yourself moving a bit slowly. And it's not just Java. Creating a 3-D VRML world isn't trivial either. Just mastering all the possibilities of a new version of Netscape before the next upgrade rolls along is an exhausting challenge. And so on. The Web is stratifying. A priesthood of technonerds -- a Webmaster aristocracy pulling down high salaries and wielding great power -- is emerging.

The solution, I believe, will eventually involve two "levels" of Java language: the professional level and a "light" level for users who need to create simple, one-line applets to control the behavior of their HTML pages. Netscape has already taken the initiative, with the scripting language built into Navigator 2.0. And in December 1995, Netscape and Sun announced a joint effort to continue this work in the form of a scripting language called JavaScript.

 

Improve efficiency with Visual Studio(r) 2010 Beta 2. - Microsoft

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