On 12/17/2011 10:36 PM, Russel Winder wrote:
In all of this, the issue of portability of code has seemingly been missed. One of the main reasons for Java in 1995 (other than the trendiness of Web browser programming) was portability across all platforms. This made the sys admin of provision of resources for programming classes significantly less than it was. C, C++ and D cannot match this even today. Back then it was a Big Win (tm).
I find this an odd statement because the Java VM is written in C, so therefore it is on the same or fewer platforms than C.
BTW, if I was King of the World, universities would teach assembler programming first.
I learned BASIC first, then FORTRAN, then I learned assembler (6800) and it was like someone turned the lights on.
I liken it to trying to teach kids algebra first, give them a calculator, and never bother teaching them arithmetic.
A programmer who doesn't know assembler is never going to write better than second rate programs.
