Why I hate java

This is a re-post from my old webpage back in 2000:

(from C/C++ Users Journal):

Reasons we prefer C to Java in two words - transparency and control:

In C, an array of structs will be laid out contiguously in memory, which is good for cache locality. In Java, the decision of how to lay out an array of objects is made by the compiler, and probably has indirections.
C has data types that match hardware data types and operations. Java abstracts from the hardware (“write once, run anywhere”).
C has manual memory management, whereas Java has garbage collection. Garbage collection is safe and convenient, but places little control over performance in the hands of programmers, and indeed encourages an allocation-intensive style.

In short, C programmers can see the costs of their programs simply by looking at them, and they can easily change data representations and fundamental strategies such as memory management. It’s easy for C programmers to tune their code for performance or for resource constraints.

I could go on and on, but here’s just the google search for “Java sucks”: http://www.google.com/search?q=java+sucks&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a Disclaimer: I was taught programming using Pascal, then C, then C++. I’m used to programming “close to the metal”. I use PHP and Perl when needed, but steer clear of Java at almost all costs. I don’t even like using java applications whenever possible - not because of principal, but because of poor performance or resource hogging. What do you use uTorrent (C) or Azurus (Java)? Why aren’t operating systems written in Java? Most anything that needs good performance is written in C or assembly to squeeze as much out of the hardware as possible.

Java is the SUV of programming tools. A project done in Java will cost 5 times as much, take twice as long, and be harder to maintain than a project done in a scripting language such as PHP or Perl. … But the programmers and managers using Java will feel good about themselves because they are using a tool that, in theory, has a lot of power for handling problems of tremendous complexity. Just like the suburbanite who drives his SUV to the 7-11 on a paved road but feels good because in theory he could climb a 45-degree dirt slope. – Greenspun, Philip

JAVA truly is the great equalizing software. It has reduced all computers to mediocrity and buggyness. - NASA’s J-Track web site

If Java had true garbage collection, most programs would delete themselves upon execution. – Robert Sewell

Java is a DSL to transform big Xml documents into long exception stack traces. – Scott Bellware

Java: the elegant simplicity of C++ and the blazing speed of Smalltalk. – Jan Steinman

More “java sucks” pages online:

http://www.cs.arizona.edu/projects/sumatra/hallofshame/ The Java Hall of Shame

http://www.wekk.net/blog/2009/05/05/why-java-sucks-for-sysadmins/

http://www.jwz.org/doc/java.html (“Java sucks” written by Jamie Zawinski - known for Netscape, Xscreensaver, emacs, XCeyCaps, and many other popular and useful unix utils)!

http://itmanagement.earthweb.com/entdev/article.php/11070_3761921_1/The-Anti-Java-Professor-and-the-Jobless-Programmers.htm - A CS professor says that today’s Java-savvy college grad is tomorrow’s pizza delivery man. He stresses that he’s not against Java itself. But the fact that Java is taught as the core language in so many colleges is resulting in a weak field of computer science grads, he says.

http://www.advogato.org/article/624.html - leaked internal memo shows that Sun doesn’t allow Java for its internal applications on Solaris and another java sucks advocate.

While the Java language provides many advantages over C and C++, its
implementation on Solaris presents barriers to the delivery of
reliable applications. These barriers prevent general acceptance of
Java for production software within Sun.
[...]

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13505_3-10453213-16.html - and just a pro-PHP article to round it all out and put Java in its place: “PHP and Perl crashing the enterprise party”