Misc. Notes on Computer Programming

The Denver Java Users Group looks to have an interesting meeting coming up. The 2 presentations are Ruby on Rails and Beyond Java. 2 meetings about things other than Java at the Denver Java Users Group. Interesting. These could be some cool sessions.

Check out this quote from the description of the Ruby on Rails presentation: "In 1994, unbeknownst to anyone, a skinny upstart in a lab was poised to dethrone C++ as the reigning king of computer languages. Of course, it's only a matter of time before we undergo another paradigm shift and Java gets its comeuppance, so we would all be wise to keep an eye out for the Next Big Thing."

When I was at CSU, C++ was king for sure. Then Java. Now C# is pretty big in the Windows world.

Here is what the guy says about J2EE:
" Today we have J2EE, the 800-pound gorilla of enterprise development. That 800 pounds cuts both ways: J2EE is a complicated beast with a long and steep learning curve that sports a dissying array of peripheral open-source software. And like any 800-pound gorilla, J2EE has many design compromises and idiosyncrasies that reflect it's growth and evolution. Some J2EE developers have begun to wonder if there's a better way..."

There are no Silver Bullets thats for sure. Does a new thing always come off as The Answer To All Our Problems? Do languages always get bogged down?

Of course, languages like C++ and Java are used in business so they have big companies pushing things. Lisp, on the other hand might be more stable because it's been left alone by that world. This is just speculation mind you. Then again, C is still pretty much the same. But the people who would have gunked up C moved on to C++ so maybe that's not a good counter example.
I am not sure how to formulate the hypothesis. THE MORE A LANGUAGE IS A NICHE LANGUAGE, THE LESS PRONE IT IS TO OVERGROWTH. Maybe.

I once read a quote from a guy who said he liked programming in C++ until it became a 'boroque monster'. I know what you mean dude.