Programming languages article

[Mike Lowery]

Microsoft looks to accommodate dynamic languages
http://www.infoworld.com/article/06/08/18/HNmicrosoftdynamiclang_1.html

I'm a little surprised at his comments about VB and how it's different from C#,
C++, and Java (he calls these "system programming languages.") Seems to me Java
has a very similar framework to .Net, and both C# and VB use the same framework.
Yet he claims that VB is a "dynamic language" that compiles on the fly, unlike
the others. How can that be if it's using the same CLR? And how could Java be
considered a system programming language? Could you write an OS with it like
one would with C++?

 

[Marina Levit [MVP]]

VB supports late binding, neither of the other 2 do. I haven't read this
article, but I would hope he doesn't actually say that it gets compiled on
the fly. It does not. However, because of late binding, it may seem like
that is what is happening, because it is possible that only at run time
would an object be examined to see if it has a certain method, and then that
method would be invoked.

Also, we don't know what his defintion of a 'system programming language'
is. Who knows what that term is being used to refer to.

 

[Kevin Spencer]

I believe he's not talking about Vb.Net, but "traditional" VB.

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HTH,

Kevin Spencer
Microsoft MVP
Chicken Salad Surgery

It takes a tough man to make a tender chicken salad.

 

[Nick Malik [Microsoft]]

Microsoft looks to accommodate dynamic languages
http://www.infoworld.com/article/06/08/18/HNmicrosoftdynamiclang_1.html

I'm a little surprised at his comments about VB and how it's different
from C#, C++, and Java (he calls these "system programming languages.")
Seems to me Java has a very similar framework to .Net, and both C# and VB
use the same framework. Yet he claims that VB is a "dynamic language" that
compiles on the fly, unlike the others.

No. He does not. He says that VB has some attributes that make it 'like' a
dynamic language. He is actually talking about IronPython, which IS a
dynamic language.

And how could Java be considered a system programming language? Could you
write an OS with it like one would with C++?

Some would say that you can. Some have tried. Personally, I think managed
languages are better suited for applications work than systems work, but I
guess it depends on what you call a 'system.' Application servers are, in
effect, systems, yet are often written in managed code.


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--- Nick Malik [Microsoft]
MCSD, CFPS, Certified Scrummaster
http://blogs.msdn.com/nickmalik

Disclaimer: Opinions expressed in this forum are my own, and not
representative of my employer.
I do not answer questions on behalf of my employer. I'm just a
programmer helping programmers.
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