I'm not a Linux programmer. It just happens that I use Linux at home currently; I started using Java when I had OS/2 on my desktop, and all my software still runs fine. And for that matter, my web site is hosted on FreeBSD, and at work I program on Lose2K (not my choice) and HP-UX. I use the same tools everywhere. Since my software runs on essentially every significant platform in the world, I don't consider myself a Linux programmer.

   The speed issue is years dead. I write server-side and client-side software, both enterprise stuff (at work) and client-server videogames (on my own time). Java's speed is fine. Even the graphics have perfectly reasonable speeds, as long as you stick to the AWT, write any custom components you need, and use double-buffering. Sure, Swing is slow as dogshit because it does too much, but it sure is pretty. Just like, say, Enlightenment.

   For anyone who still has peformance problems, I'd highly recommend _Java Performance Tuning_, by Jack Shirazi, pub. O'Reilly, and _Graphic Java 2_, by David Geary, pub. Prentice Hall. It is almost certainly your code's fault, not Java's, because I get 50-90% of the speed of equivalent C programs, and sometimes higher.

   And then we get to the *real* benefits of Java: security and stability. Because it doesn't allow you to diddle about with memory, and because it has garbage collection, 95% of the stupid errors that cause crashes in software (used Netscape lately?) are just not possible in Java. No pointer bugs ever again. No buffer overruns (which cause HOW MANY security holes?)

   Frankly, I can't even comprehend why anyone bothers writing platform-specific user applications any more. Low-level systems software is the only valid use I can see for C. It's a big world out there, and very little of it uses any particular OS. If your software is worth writing, it's worth writing for everyone. If it's not worth writing for everyone, go get a job flipping burgers, it'd be more beneficial to society.

Last modified: 2001Feb09