Defending C++ (01 Jul 2003)
Ian:
Don't bother telling me that Freenet should be implemented in C++ unless you are willing to spend months illustrating your code on stretched leather with a carefully prepared pheasant feather while paying particular attention to the initial "#".
Well, I did do this and here's why:
- I wanted to learn C++
- The Java Freenet code was making mistakes in areas such as crypto that only an independent implementation was going to uncover
- I don't like Java
I learnt C++ pretty well and it really is a messy pre-processor for C. There are hundreds of tiny quirks waiting to bite you, not just in the language, but with each different compiler (looking at Microsoft here). It's a mess and really shouldn't be used for anything, but it still is. And that's not just because the great unwashed masses haven't learnt about Java.
C++ is popular because it's actually a good tool for a lot of jobs - still riding C's wave from the 1970's. Interfaces are written for it and with it in mind and some people have done jaw-dropping stuff with such a mess of a language.
(I've never used C# - and I'm in no position to comment on it directly. I'm just using the general opinion that, in language space, C# is standing on Java's toes.)
But that certainly doesn't mean that everyone would be using Java and C# if C++ didn't have so much momentum. Despite great improvements, Java code is still just slow. Even on fast machines you can feel the lethargy of Java GUI programs. No amount of micro-benchmarks change this. And the Java library isn't just "artistically uninspired", it's cringe worthy - huge class names everywhere and interfaces designed by committee. At least C/C++ interfaces are generally short and to the point.
To some extent Ian is correct, however, that Java is more of an engineering language than an artists language. Java does manage to give programming idiots a language which they can use in a big organisation without giving them sharp objects to poke themselves with (e.g. pointers).
But if you are going to get away from C's perfectionism then I would suggest that Python is a far better place to be. Python for the times that you want brush strokes with C modules for the awkward details. Java/C# is to thin to cover with and too thick to touch up with.