Comparision of multi-lingual applications with pure Java applications

[Oladeji Oluwasayo]

Welcome Kirk!

Please I have a question.

Programming languages have their respective strengths and weaknesses. So I think we can combine the bests of all each world in a single project. This has now been made easy with a lot of platform bridges (e.g JNA for Java/C++/C#, JPype for Java/Python, etc). Judging by your vast industry experience, how do multi-lingual applications (projects involving Java/C++/Python) measure up with pure Java applications? What are the possible drawbacks/pitfalls? Is a multi-lingual project really worth it?

[Kirk Knoernschild]

It's a polyglot world. In fact, you probably already use several languages - Java, HTML, CSS, JavaScript, XML, SQL to name a few. The day where the general purpose language is used to solve all types of programming problems is ending. Special purpose languages that solve specific types of programming challenges will become more common. Groovy/Grails increases developer productivity. A functional language (Clojure, Scala) to deal with concurrency. Domain specific languages too.

Visit the book's website at modularity.kirkk.com where you can review all 18 patterns and download an excerpt of the book. There is also a mobile web application available that you can take with you wherever you go.

--kirk
Twitter: @pragkirk

[Oladeji Oluwasayo]

Thanks a lot Kirk. I'm currently involved in a project (to be implemented in Java for some business reasons) that depends on an existing Python codebase. I'm trying to come up with a design that will not only make everything work out fine but also reduce possible future maintenance overhead.
I hope your book helps.