“I love Java. A large part of my success as a software developer over the last decade is due to the fact that I was an early Java adopter. Java also allowed me to grow professionally and become a Software IT Architect at IBM,” Huibert Aalbers blogs.
“Over the years I have written many J2EE web apps, some J2SE applications and even one Java2ME program for a Sony-Ericsson handset,” Aalbers writes. “The fact is that I am totally convinced by the many benefits of Java and I do not feel attracted by any other language to write enterprise web applications. But seriously, Java for the iPhone? Why?”
“The iPhone [and iPod touch] is a device that lies somewhere between a computer and a phone. It has an amazing user interface that users expect applications to fully embrace. Java currently does not offer any solutions to work effectively with that aspect of the device. However, Java could still prove useful to help quickly migrate all those games written for other handsets to the iPhone. Is this important for Apple and iPhone customers? I doubt it. With over 100,000 SDKs downloaded in just over four days, it seems that the iPhone will not lack native software (including games),” Aalbers writes.
“I abandoned Java on the desktop for Objective-C years ago because Cocoa allowed me to get the most out of the Macintosh platform. The same applies to the iPhone. Objective-C is similar to Java in many ways. What makes the difference is Cocoa touch which is a great development framework and allows [me] to get to the guts of the iPhone without compromises. That is why I personally don’t care if Sun releases a Java SDK for the iPhone or not. I am quite sure most of those 100,000 developers who have downloaded the SDK agree with me,” Aalbers writes.
More in the full article here.
Choices –
As a developer I like to reuse my existing code. It’s a real drag to port or start over when I already have a working function or class file.
I’m pleased that Sun is deploying a mobile JVM for the iPhone. It will allow people like me to re-use our existing investment.
I don’t write games. I write software that people use to manage information and revenue.
If it turns out that I have the next great killer app, I’ll re-write it in Objective C (which is great by the way). Otherwise I’ll re-use as much as I can.
Most people don’t care what language I wrote it in. They just want it to work.
And where the hell are all those devices running Android – Vapor Ware…
@ Off Topic
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WTF! Thanks!
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One guy sees no use and it means the world has no need for it. This guy has no vision and would never work for me.
“Consider that over 750,000 Java developers have downloaded the Android SDK.”
Yes, and consider they have no hardware yet, no distro model and no idea if Android will even be a success.
The iPhone/iPod touch plus SDK is a masterstroke. Apple will now begin to attack the two areas where it has always been a bit player in the last twenty years: Gaming & Enterprise.
Oh, yea, they will own the mobile computer space as well.
Steve
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”grin” style=”border:0;” /> I don’t think the real Jobs doesn’t see any use for it either.
Seriously, why not Java?
Java is a good language. Alot of devs out there know it, understand it. If in a year’s time my boss tells me to churn out a quick application for the iPhone, I just might choose to do it in Java because the learning curve to get going would be less, and I have existing libraries of code to speed things up.
I’m sure Objective C is fine too, but there’s not need to get into religious wars over this. It’s another development platform for the iPhone, and that’s a good thing.
And if MS ever put out .NET and C# for the iPhone, hey, that would be mighty fine too.
… and a straight C and C++, and Perl and anything else. The more the merrier. The more accessible the gadget becomes to devs from different backgrounds.
I hope that Sun does a proper job, and adds some libraries to take advantage of the iPhones special UI features.