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Message:

Still hype...

Posted by Gerry Quinn on 30 May 1998, 5:28 AM

"The Hotspot Java virtual machine promises to bring Java program performance on par with that of natively compiled C++. In fact ... could eventually push Java performance past that of statically compiled C++."
I take it this refers to some crippled model of C++ where pointer arithmetic is not permitted, objects are assumed to be dynamically allocated even where the programmer can easily avoid it, array checking is forced etc.
Java syntax simply does not have the capability to instruct the processor as precisely as C++.
Also, I see nothing about improving the incredibly slow startup times of Java programs. Even quite small programs take several seconds to start from a hard disk. It is true I have only dealt with applets - maybe applications are faster?

• Yup, still hype Bill Venners 01 Jun 1998, 12:02 PM (0)