Blogging Ottinger (tim)

Just blowin’ off some steam here.

For what it’s worth, I’m still waiting to have my very first positive experience with Java. I frankly don’t know why anyone bothers with this language. It’s as bad as C++ in everything but core dumps, and it is worse when it comes to tool setup. Admittedly, I am trying (with help) to wrangle Java, Eclipse, Svn, a project set up in SVN poorly,and fitnesse into a set of interoperating projects and I don’t even know the language yet. I’m working with nothing but and a big headful of ignorance and the kindness of others (and the occasional grouchy email exchange or IM). If you start to learn Java, start with an empty directory and a good idea. Don’t start like this or you will probably feel like I feel right now.

I bet if I just moved from C++ to Java, and I’d been working with a big team of people who had sloppy pointer handling and crummy memory management, and who abused overloading and inheritance, then I would probably see Java as a welcome relief. I did C++, but after that I did Python for a living, and then C#. That makes Java a lot less inviting since everything I do in Java is easier in at least two other languages.

Mind you, the C++ code I’ve been seeing lately has ugly dark corners, but at least you can work on it in a text editor and makefile. Java world brings a lot of associated technologies, history, and tool baggage to the table. And mind you, all of the things that made Java famous are things that the industry seems to agree are bad ideas, such as struts and EJBs and Spring and Applets. I’m not sure what it’s good for, but it sure had all the buzz for a little while. It sold a *lot* of books

The good news is that I’ve tried many things in my configuration-by-permutation-and-random-chance experience, and some nice people have been helpful in showing me bits and pieces. I even recall the bits I understand. I know more *about* setting up Eclipse projects from Subversion repositories using Subclipse, and more about classpaths and fitnesse than I never knew before. That is some progress.

Sadly, it is not enough yet. If I have to start over again, I’m going to have to get help again. Getting started with this stuff is ugly and sloppy. Maybe I can finally like Java (at least a little) when I can actually program in it again. I didn’t like it last time, but I didn’t do much programming before I found out that I was working in the “wrong” code base and needed to start over. I didn’t understand my setup last time, and so I had to screw it up at least four or five different ways before getting help again, and the guy helping me had troubles rather like I’ve been having. It’s just a mess.

On the other hand, I saw a Smalltalk demo today, and that looked fun. I know from experience that python is tons of fun. Ruby looks like a lot of fun. I worked with some people doing TDD in Perl and that was fun too. I wish the commercial world would go ahead and make the jump to decent dynamic languages (I’m not yet sure whether “decent”includes Perl) so we don’t have to wrestle with bureaucratic, statically-typed, punctuation-oriented, straight-jacketed languages any more. At least I can keep wishing while I try to rubber-cement this Java tool setup to the inside of my head.

Okay. Better now. Thanks for the shoulder.