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Java - the right tool for the job?

 
Greenhorn
Posts: 10
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Hello everyone,

I have been flirting with Java for a few months now. I am an old VB / C# / Delphi programmer and have been wanting to branch out to other operating systems for a while.

After doing some research the more obvious choices are C++ (with QT or xWidgets) or Java.

I tend to do a little bit of everything, from desktop applications to TCP servers, to web services, to Database clients.

In the past I have done some limited programming in both Java and C++, so it is pretty hard for me to choose when I am by no means an expert in the languages or their differences.

Every language is just a tool, each one has strong points and weak points. Just wondering if you guys can fill me in on some of Java's strong and weak spots?
 
lowercase baba
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one of java's strengths is the 'write once, run anywhere' philosophy, which should probably be "compile once, run anywhere".

With C/C++, you must re-compile your code for each platform you want to run it on, and make sure you send the right .exe for the right system.

with java, you can send the EXACT same source files to everyone, and regardless of their platform/version, it will run (assuming there is a jvm for that platform).

Now, of course it is possible to write code that won't be portable, but why would you do that?
 
Greenhorn
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I would just add that I considered wxWidgets for quite some time as I came from C/C++. However, I find that the support base for Java to be infinite in comparison to wxWidgets and QT combined. There's a tremendous amount of flexibility in developing a wide range of applications using Java that I couldn't find in wx and Qt. But what finally put the change in my thinking was my company providing me with a free voucher to take a Sun exam, thus Java it is. I also weighed the options of either .Net or Java and ended up choosing Java in the end because I value things that are free.
 
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