The 'Anti-Java' Professor and the Jobless Programmers

Jeebizz · 10-15-2009, 11:44 AM

"When I noticed that this list of the popular programming languages placed Java in the top position, I picked up the phone to call Robert Dewar. Several months back I interviewed Dewar, a professor emeritus of computer science at New York University, about Java’s role in the college classroom."

"What he said in that interview about Java in the classroom wasn’t pretty..."

http://itmanagement.earthweb.com/car...rogrammers.htm

H_TeXMeX_H · 10-16-2009, 04:23 AM

Great article, I fully agree with the professor.

Back when I was taking CS in school, we were the last year to be taught C/C++, next year they said they would all switch to java, pretty much everyone around the state would. This was lucky for me because they gave away all the textbooks to us students. However, I thought (even then) that it was a big mistake to switch to teaching java.

Unlike the professor, I also think that java is a terrible and worthless programming language. I don't see why it was created, other than to doom many CS majors to future failure / unemployment.

Jeebizz · 10-16-2009, 08:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by H_TeXMeX_H

Unlike the professor, I also think that java is a terrible and worthless programming language. I don't see why it was created, other than to doom many CS majors to future failure / unemployment.

It was designed for interfacing with set top boxes, which would also explain further down why I just hate getting user input and printing out to the screen, because it is such a pain. When java was released, it was released with the many shortcomings it actually had, and features like input and output etc were hastily included, poorly I might add. I could just go on and on why I much prefer C++ over this java rubbish!

Quote:

Originally Posted by H_TeXMeX_H

Unlike the professor, I also think that java is a terrible and worthless programming language. I don't see why it was created, other than to doom many CS majors to future failure / unemployment.

Couldn't agree more, and I just feel so cheated because I have to take these useless java courses when the upper level courses are C++ anyways. Everyone keeps telling me how java is so much easier. Really? I find it cumbersome and slow, and actually teaches bad programming habits. People complain about C/C++ and their pointers, and how much of a nightmare it is. Well I would rather work with pointers anyways, than have to put up with really shitty input output syntax'.

As for cumbersome, I absolutely HATE getting user input from java. Am I the only one here who thinks a simple cin>> and cout<< statement is much easier?

Java input

Code:

Assume sum1 is already declared:

Scanner input = new Scanner (System.in);
sum1 = input.nextInt();

Java output

Code:

System.out.println(sum1);

C++ input

Code:

Again, assume sum1 is already declared:

cin>>sum1;

C++ output

Code:

cout<< sum1 <<endl;

Oh yea, java is MUCH better!

mostlyharmless · 10-16-2009, 11:58 AM

There seems to be a trend, in more than one field, that mirrors the C->Java story in this article, though perhaps there was some merit to one of the commenters on the article who pointed out that these things are sometimes generational conflict as well.

Why is it that every generation thinks the next one is a bunch of slackers (not Slackers, that would be different

), and usually with good evidence to support it?

I'm betting fewer and fewer people know how to use a slide rule, to write a sonnet, to dance a waltz, to navigate with a sextant, or in some cases to read an analog clock. Loss of skills, the value of effort and mental discipline to learn these things, to be sure, and replaced with the ability to text and Twitter. Hmmm.

Jeebizz · 10-16-2009, 03:12 PM

I can at least read an analog clock!

As far as the others are concerned.....

smeezekitty · 10-16-2009, 09:03 PM

i dislike java because C/C++ is more platform and low level friendly
JAVA has a huge system requirements overhead