Java and Potato Chips

Will proposed new Java language additions increase Java's popularity, or will it be the same old bag of potato chips? Look in the kitchen sink and help decide on Java's future recipe.

As the author of this article on new Java features describes, potato chips have a certain value to people. However, a simple change, like a curled edge that holds dip, can increase its value and renew people's interest.

Are closures Java's equivalent to the curled potato chips? How about enhanced properties? Operator overloading? Clearly, the most important item on this list is that which is important to you; someone who is currently a Java developer.

As the author points out, Java is a language that many people have grown up on, as opposed to one that people have moved to. I moved to Java full-time from C++ back in 1999, so I have a different view of what I’d like the language to become (or to remain). For instance, soon after I made the switch from C++, I'd wished that Java allowed operator overloading (i.e. custom implementations of operators such as '+', or the array brackets). However, some argue that this feature adds to the complexity of C++ with little advantage, and that there is no need to pass this complexity on to the Java language. Someone who never coded in C++ would more than likely agree with that.

The Kitchen Sink

There is a way for you to help decide what should be, and not be, in Java's future; it's The Kitchen Sink Language project. It’s an experimental branch of Java's language implementation, including the compiler. Here, you have the chance to propose a new feature, and actually supply an implementation of it for others to try. Before making a decision as to whether a feature should be in or out, you get to try it. As James Gosling describes, "Throw stuff into the kitchen sink without thinking too hard about whether or not it's a good idea. Let folks kick the tires. Those experiences then inform the choice of which features go into the standard."

Happy coding,
EJB

Posted by Eric Bruno at 10:08 AM  Permalink