On C/C++ undefined behaviours

[Jonathan M Davis]

On Friday 20 August 2010 22:52:37 Nick Sabalausky wrote:
> "Jonathan M Davis" <jmdavisprog at gmail.com> wrote in message
> news:mailman.444.1282368222.13841.digitalmars-d at puremagic.com...
> 
> > I expect that your typical desktop application would do far better
> > performance-wise when written in Java than Eclipse has done. But either
> > because
> > Java isn't generally good enough for application development or because
> > people
> > think that it isn't there don't seem to be very many desktop applications
> > which
> > are written in Java. So, it's hard to say.
> 
> The best C/C++ <-> Java application comparison I can think of
> off-the-top-of-my-head would be uTorrent and Azureus (That's the actual
> Azureus, not Vuze - I don't care what the creators claim, Vuze is a
> *completely* different program.)  uTorrent and Azureus are nearly-identical
> in purpose, features and UI. uTorrent is smooth as silk. Azureus is a bit
> sluggish (certainly not Eclipse sluggish, but no where near uTorrent).
> uTorrent is C/C++. Azureus is Java.
> 
> And just overall, the majority of responsive, non-bloaty software I've used
> *has* been natively-compiled stuff. The majority of sluggish, bloated
> software I've used has been some form of interpreted code or VM, such as
> JVM or .NET. So even if we're comparing apples and oranges, if Farm A
> makes apples that are usually juicy and sweet, and Farm B makes oranges
> that usually aren't, I'm going to feel fairly confident in saying that
> Farm A kicks Farm B's ass.

Those seem to be reasonable comparisons. Of course, you don't choose Java or 
.NET because it gets you efficient code (though you'd probably like efficient code). 
You use them for reasons like fast development time and (for Java at least) 
portability. The gains in maintenance and development time are easily large 
enough to justify the loss in efficiency on many (perhaps even most) software 
projects. Of course, there are projects where Java and .NET don't cut it, but 
they often do. Hopefully D will prove to be a solution with development benefits 
on par with Java and .NET and efficiency benefits on par with C++.

- Jonathan M Davis