RE: Why is Ocaml better than Java (WAS: [Caml-list] ocaml complexity)

["Dave Berry" <Dave@kal.com>]

I've spent the last six months actively recruiting C++ programmers.
There are many C++ programmers out there, and they are very much in
demand.  The notion that "nobody writes applications using C/C++" is
simply wrong.  Also, the "open source" community can't be so easily
dismissed, as OCaml is more likely to make headway with these users than
commercial users (at present).

That said, there are other major languages used for writing
applications, such as VB, Delphi and Java.  Comparisons between these
and OCaml would be a good idea.  

Dave.


-----Original Message-----
From: Mattias Waldau [mailto:mattias.waldau@abc.se]
Sent: 08 June 2001 11:06
To: caml-list@inria.fr
Cc: leary@nwlink.com; Jonathan Coupe
Subject: Why is Ocaml better than Java (WAS: [Caml-list] ocaml
complexity)


> How much time and money do development teams spend creating and
tracking
> down memory management errors in C and C++ starting on day one?  At
least
> some of the benefits are immediate and ongoing.

Why this obsession comparing Ocaml with C/C++? C/C++ isn't used out
there
except for Linux-development, low-level programming and embedded
development.

No one writes applications using C/C++, they use Java, Visual Basic.
Some
open source developers use Python, PHP and similar. Some use Fortran and
Delphi.

Talking about memory management with a programmer using anything else
than
C/C++ is a waste of time.

The real questions is how to convince a Java-programmer to start using
Ocaml.

The arguments I can list is:
- speed
- polymorphism, no casting needed (will be solved in next generation of
Java, so this
argument will disappear)
- closures (however can always be programmed using local class with
()-method)
- better typechecking makes higher order functions simple to use
(however, I
  think that a local class in Java will be as good)
- compact programs (Java programs are very long)
- easy integration with C (easy in VB, I haven't tried it in Java)

Plz help me with more arguments
/mattias

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