Subject: RE: Why program in Java?

From: "Mark Thompson" <mark:at:arguslab.com>
Date: Fri, 4 Jun 2004 09:00:08 -0700

One major drawback to scientific programing in Java, at the present time, is
good 3D graphics.  Currently, JOGL (Java bindings to OpenGL) is pretty much
the best you can do, and it's quite good with one big caveat.  JOGL supports
hardware accelerated graphics, but only through using a heavyweight JOGL
component.  This means if you write a Swing-based application, you must use
the lightweight Swing-compatible JOGL component (which does not support
hardware acceleration).

I've done extensive business and scienfitic SW development in Java for ~10
years and I still prefer C++ for scientific apps.  I have found that Java is
very good for writing stable (even high performance) server-side
applications, but that it really lacks polish for GUIs in stand-alone apps.

In defense of Java, the JOGL development team claims that there will be
openGl bindings in Java 1.5 and I suspect 3D graphics in Java will only get
better over time.

C++ using Qt for the GUI is hard to beat in my personal opinion.

Mark

***************************
Mark Thompson
ArgusLab
PO Box 55207
Seattle, WA  98155
voice: 206.240.4769
FAX: 206.440.3305

mark:at:arguslab.com
http://www.arguslab.com
***************************

-----Original Message-----
From: Computational Chemistry List [mailto:chemistry-request:at:ccl.net]On
Behalf Of jle:at:TheWorld.com
Sent: Friday, June 04, 2004 4:46 AM
To: chemistry:at:ccl.net
Subject: CCL:Why program in Java?

Folks, I would appreciate pointers to any article/book discussing
the pros and cons of programming in Java.  Either with regards to
other interpreted languages such as Python/Perl, or with regards
to compiled languages such as C/C++.  Truly comparative articles
would be best, although evangelical texts would suffice (i.e. I've
read some of the XP literature :-).

Thanks in advance!

Joe

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