🚀 go-pugleaf

Mark Winter <markWinter@wintergroup.com> wrote:

>Joe, the "evangelical" spirit with which you express the demise of 
>Smalltalk - first to C++ and now to Java, tells me you have more of a 
>"anything but Smalltalk" attitude than what the realities are in the 
>market place.

Mark, 

You clearly misread my position.   I have never said Java will cause
the demise of C++ (please re-read my posts for clarification).  But I
HAVE implied Java will assist in the demise of Smalltalk.

Certainly Smalltalk would have died with or without Java.  But the
hype and excitement surrounding Java is accelerating Smalltalk's
demise.  Take price as an example.  A Smalltalk development system
with required tools can cost anywhere between $5000-$20000 PER
LICENSE!  Do you think ANY language with this price point has a bright
future?  VC++ 4.0 is priced at $500; Java is free!  Do you honestly
believe Smalltalk can justify this cost?

I think the term "evangelical" hardly captures my feelings about Java.
Technically, I have a lukewarm opinion of Java.  Its a nice language
that eliminates much of the tediousness of C++ and provides very
creative opportunities for Internet applications.  What you mistake as
"evangelical spirit" is merely my admiration at watching Sun make all
the right moves with this product.  Marketing is everything and Sun
seems to know what they are doing!

To get back to the topic of this thread--no, I don't think Java will
kill C++.  I think the Microsoft Active-X architecture will limit the
penetration Java will make in at least the Windows/C++ market--thereby
ensuring C++ remains the dominant language for years to come.  But
Java is here to stay, and I suspect you will see the weaker languages
dying off in the next few years.  I think Q1 earnings should provide
some support to my supposition...

Joe