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Aaron Trevena wrote:
More importantly most UNIX and Linux software is still written in C - Look at GTK, GNOME, Linux, Apache, FreeBSD, Solaris - all Written in C.
Yes, but it is also one of the principal reason we get a continuous stream of buffer overflow security problems. And I dare say the frequency of GUI crashes I see on Linux are probably down to not using more strict interfaces between components. I know it is possible to write solid C++, but it is also possible to be good at firewalking, it doesn't stop accountancy being a safer career choice. Obviously languages are written to fit a purpose. C and C++ are general purpose languages built for speed (Who was it who said that "since the advent of C++, C is at most the third best language for any application"). Many business IT requirements are not rocket science, they are about managing data in an accurate and timely fashion, they don't require much speed, they do require easy to use interfaces, and corruption or unplanned downtime are unacceptable. Thus languages that make it easy to build good GUI's, provide powerful database facilities, and are relatively strongly typed to avoid sillies are used. In this market you find Visual Basic, Java, PowerBuilder, Oracle Developer, OpenRoad, MUMPS, Magic and similar languages and environments dominate. Okay the meaty VB components are written in C++ often, but to the average business developer these 3rd party objects either "work" or get junked. Proprietary languages are a technical dead end - eventually support drops - or platforms aren't supported, leaving Java standing out in this area. Sure you can use Visual C++ to build a nice Windows GUI, with some data bound controls, but your far more likely to trip over stupid bugs that wouldn't even compile in Java. I agree C++ is much more powerful than Java in many ways, but programming languages are not just about the ability to express yourself, you have to do it without making daft mistakes. comp.risks is covering some nice discussions on liability issues at the moment, a group in the US is lobbying to make software companies more liable for defects in their software (Criminal negligence was mentioned for buffer overflow issues). If you were to be imprisoned for mistakes in your code, would you still be so keen to program in C? What was the last version of VB you used, as it has some really nice features, I wouldn't use it for big projects as it is proprietary, but a lot of people who rubbished it, rubbished it at version 3, a bit like condemning Fortran because Fortran IV was so naff. -- The Mailing List for the Devon & Cornwall LUG Mail majordomo@xxxxxxxxxxxx with "unsubscribe list" in the message body to unsubscribe.