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James Gosling Screwed Us: “Write Once…” is Anti-Customer

6 points| cek | 13 years ago |ceklog.kindel.com | reply

9 comments

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[+] suyash|13 years ago|reply
Another article with Cathy Title but No Meat. The author of this article clearly does not understand JVM or what it does and how much it helped in the whole 'WORA' movement. James Gosling is the real hero, thanks for giving us JAVA.

- Java Enthusiast

[+] cek|13 years ago|reply
OP here. James Gosling is actually a hero to me. I hold him up there with Dennis Ritchie, Jim Gray, and Anders Hejlsberg. He had a bold, bodacious technical vision and he moved heaven and earth to make it happen. Great things have happened as a result. Billions of $ have been made. Many developers learned to program with a language better than C++ to learn on. Much of his original thinking has inspired others to do more great and bodacious things.

However, his creation also created a faulty mindset. He encouraged that mindset. I know he didn't actually coin the term, but I was around and I heard him speak. He toed the party line. Using his name is relevant to this discussion because, I believe, it highlights the problem: The "write once" approach is faulty because it started with an application of technology, not the customer.

[+] cek|13 years ago|reply
Oh, and by the way, I am willing to bet I understand the JVM as well as most. I was responsible for the JVM<->COM interop in Microsoft's JVM.
[+] randomracker|13 years ago|reply
It's a vision not fully realized. It's not any more anti-consumer than an unfinished bridge is anti-motorist.