Re: [TCLUG:13004] AP Comp. Sci.

[Thomas Veldhouse <veldy@visi.com>]

On Fri, 28 Jan 2000, Christopher Palmer wrote:

> On Fri, 28 Jan 2000 Nick.T.Reinking@supervalu.com wrote:
> 
> > Scheme?  Java is fairly easy to learn, *and* it is actually used
> > for things other than education.
> 
> Scheme has a lot of currency in math and AI applications.
> 

Scheme is used in Gnome, in the form of guile.  So, it is likely to be on
your desktop (let's not start flaming).

Personally, I prefer C++ for just about everything - with Java a close
second.  All the comparisons I have seen in this discussion so far, that
negatively reflect on C++, should not do so.  I say this for the simple
fact that all the flaws acutally mentioned (except one - the out of date
compiler technology issue) are actually flaws in C++ libraries.  C++ is a
language which does not need to use any library.  Generally, it is
feasible to use just the C library, which make the binaries much like
every other binary on a linux system.  So, if you want to pass file
handles across thread boundries, do so, just don't use an ostream derived
object to do it (if that comment was indeed true).  I do a lot of COM
development for a living and I have learned the power of C++ (versus pure
C - or any procedural language) at teh component level.  This sort of
approach can be used in any modular system - and C++ is a great tool for
that.  It is pretty clear why Java would be my second choice.

JMO

Tom Veldhouse
veldy@visi.com