Just Wondering...

I was looking through some stuff and I was wondering... Just how similar is java to C# or Lua or some other scripting languages? Because I know some limited coding skills of both of these.

Java isn't a scripted language. Neither is C#, though C# can be used in an XML type format and I believe (but am not 100%) that C# has some ties to ASP.NET for web applications.

Java is a more conventional object oriented language and though some scripted languages such as Perl and PHP can use objects, they aren't used in the same manner as java uses them, especially when it comes to games. Whens the last time you saw a game programmed in Perl/PHP? Never? Well this is because where Java uses objects and can "perpetually run", scripted languages compile and build, then execute and return, then die. Scripted languages aren't designed to be used in a decision based back and forth application, they're designed to accomplish a specific task based on what information is passed to them. Java can, which is one of the reasons why at my job we use a Java broker (a listener if you will) to handle and dish out incoming requests. It does this well can multi-thread like a champ and provided it's programmed correctly, will efficiently handle memory (though new versions of Java do an excellent job of cleaning up) which makes crashes due to system resources nearly a thing of the past.

The closest language to Java that I can think of is C++. C# and C++ are similar only in that both have C in the name (at least in my opinion).

Java is also platform independent meaning the same code works fine on Windows, Linux, and even Mac's, the run-time environment is the only thing that needs to be specific to the platform (and Java runs in a Java Virtual Machine environment).

Wiki Page on Java - this has a lot of information about the language itself.

I could probably write for another 2 or 3 days about the differences.

Thank you. That clears up a whole lot of questions I had about this.

ectrimble20 wrote:

Whens the last time you saw a game programmed in Perl/PHP? Never? Well this is because where Java uses objects and can "perpetually run", scripted languages compile and build, then execute and return, then die.

Huh, I always assumed it was because Perl is a nasty cryptic language that not even those who use it fully understand. :p

Also I would argue that scripted languages are perfectly capable of handling realtime interactive applications. Just look at flash and html5. The difference between scripted and compiled languages, I would say, is scripted languages prioritize portability and simplicity, whereas compiled languages are in it for performance and fine-level control. Java is sort of a compromise between the two, which makes it attractive for enterprise software development, though I personally dislike it. Still, it's only because Minecraft is written in Java that we have the ability to decompile and mod it.

Well Frost, you do make an interesting argument. You know what I might try is to make a simple game using Perl (my primary language of irony). I'm sure I can make a simple game. I'll have to think about this a bit

As for Perl being nasty and cryptic, I wont lie, its a serious pain in the ass to learn. A programming language written by a linguist, makes life kinda rough. A lot of my programming deals with database queries and data dissecting, but even with its craziness, I will say that the power of perl lies in the sheer number of plugins you can get for it. PDF generation? you got it. Email? you got it. Database connecting/reading? What DB do you want cuz we gotz it.

Anyway, I wont defend perl, its a horribly hard scripting language to try and reverse engineer and going from a PHP background to a Perl code set (which is what I did) was not a lot of fun. Still, the sheer power the language has makes up for its down falls in understandability..... if that even makes sense haha.

Darn! My attempt to be the last poster on every topic
has been sabotaged!


No matter, I shall ttry again tomorrow.

That's right: ttry.