Why Java?

[Shawn Hempel <he...@zOregonTech.com>]

As a Software Engineering student at Oregon Institute of Technology I am
currently taking a course on XML. As part of the course I am trying to
(independently) learn some of the tools built around XML (Xalan, FOP,
Cocoon, etc).

I have a very open question, which will likely get me in trouble with
some Java die-hards, but I am really curious so I will ask anyway:

     Why are most XML tools written in Java?

Obviously some tools have been written in C, and some have been
developed with both Java and C implementations (Xerces), but my
experience is that the Java tools are more mature and more widely used.
Even Saxon, which was one of the first XSLT libraries, was written in
Java.

It's not that I am opposed to Java, but I believe C/C++ are still more
common in Industry than Java and are, therefore, easier to use for many
XML developers?

Assuming the primary reasoning is portability, aren't command-line and
server programs written in C extremely portable? I think the Apache
Server itself is a great example of that.


Thanks for your feedback,

Shawn Hempel
hempels@zOregonTech.com

Re: Why Java?

[Steve Heller <st...@steveheller.com>]

Actually, memory management and pointer problems can relatively easily
be avoided in C++, by employing a strategy of encapsulating pointer
and memory management operations inside infrastructure classes rather
than scattering them throughout the source code. By doing this, I have
almost entirely avoided such problems for the past several years, even
though I develop entirely in C++.			

On Mon, 14 May 2001 13:53:45 -0400, James Melton
<ja...@cylogix.com> wrote:

>I think you need to ask why are so many new projects developed in Java
>instead of C++ rather than just limiting it to XML tools. 
>
>For us that comes down to an assessment of where we spend
>support/debugging/enhancement hours. Many of those hours with respect to
>C++ are spent hunting memory management and pointer problems. Java
>designers did their best to eliminate these. If we don't lose three
>hours hunting for a stray pointer or memory leak, we get to spend those
>hours doing something that contributes more directly to the business
>bottom line. That makes Java more efficient for development than C++.
>
>At the same time new projects are also using XML, so the requirement
>becomes an XML parser for Java.
>
>Jim.
>
>Shawn Hempel wrote:
>> 
>> 
>>      Why are most XML tools written in Java?
>> 
>
>____________________________________________________________
>James Melton                 CyLogix
>609.750.5190                 609.750.5100
>james.melton@cylogix.com     www.cylogix.com
>
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--
Steve Heller, WA0CPP
(backup email: stheller@Hotmail.com)
PGP public key available from http://pgpkeys.mit.edu:11371
http://www.steveheller.com
Author of "Learning to Program in C++", Who's Afraid of C++?", "Who's Afraid of More C++?",
"Optimizing C++", and other books
Free online versions of "Who's Afraid of C++?" and "Optimizing C++" are now available
at http://www.steveheller.com/whos and http://www.steveheller.com/opt

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Re: Why Java?

[James Melton <ja...@cylogix.com>]

I think you need to ask why are so many new projects developed in Java
instead of C++ rather than just limiting it to XML tools. 

For us that comes down to an assessment of where we spend
support/debugging/enhancement hours. Many of those hours with respect to
C++ are spent hunting memory management and pointer problems. Java
designers did their best to eliminate these. If we don't lose three
hours hunting for a stray pointer or memory leak, we get to spend those
hours doing something that contributes more directly to the business
bottom line. That makes Java more efficient for development than C++.

At the same time new projects are also using XML, so the requirement
becomes an XML parser for Java.

Jim.

Shawn Hempel wrote:
> 
> 
>      Why are most XML tools written in Java?
> 

____________________________________________________________
James Melton                 CyLogix
609.750.5190                 609.750.5100
james.melton@cylogix.com     www.cylogix.com

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