Tuesday, May 07, 2002

It seems like .NET gives us a "choice" of languages precisely where we couldn't care less about it -- in the syntax. (Joel Spolsky). Right -- .NET doesn't replace everything that came before, unless all you know is Windows and Web development with C++/MFC/ATL/Win32/ASP/VB; in which case it does (except for Joel's argument about small distributions, which has never been an issue for me because of huge MFC or VB DLL's). I think Joel's point is that we have this huge (and wonderful) thing that is changing our (development) lives, but many of us still won't be cranking it up for every task that comes along. I'm getting a new machine at work, so I'm taking the opportunity to automate a few more things in my machine setup. Am I writing in C# in VS.NET? Hell no! A few small JavaScript files, edited with UltraEdit (which starts in 5 seconds), and run under CScript is all I need. And it will be a long while before anything like the mighty CPAN is available for .NET. [John Sands' Radio Weblog] What a beauty. No one said it would (or should) replace everything before it. Or write in C#. That's not what the post is about. Honestly, its amazing the misunderstandings that people take these things to as Joel and I discussed. We're talking about the runtime and whether the size matters or not. As to the rest, its factually incorrect. .NET has JScript.NET to do all of what you mention as well as Perl.NET and libraries that do everything the "mighty" CPAN does and more (without the hacks). 4:41:17 PM

No, that's not the point. The point is this: 4-6x increased developer productivity and speed [Sam Gentile] I agree with Sam that .NET gives you a lot for your 20MB. I love it. ADO.NET is a breeze, XML Support is top notch, etc. It is an excellent tool for the toolset. But (you knew there was a but right?), I'm starting to see the same type of productivity increase in C++. The trick is to find class libraries and frameworks that make your life easier. [Justin Rudd's Radio Weblog] Heh, but that's the point. All languages have these tricks and idioms and "libraries." "Just use my library" and your woes are solved. The problem is that is for C++ only. C++ is hidesously complex and drags into idioms that are far beyond the capabilities of most mortals-).  I am talking about a cross-platform, cross-type, cross-language runtime with one library in a neat set of namespaces accessible from any language (in the same exact way) and able to do cross-inheritance from each other and such. Apples and Oranges. 4:36:31 PM

Joel on Software: Why Religious Wars are Stupid.  Good stuff.  Inspired me to look harder for Joel's RSS feed.  Share and enjoy. [Sam Ruby] If you want to applaud a flawed essay based on a misunderstanding, which he felt he needed to correct in his newer and better Five Worlds essay, party on Sam-). Joel and I exchanged emails yesterday  and figured out that we had misunderstood each other. There was and is nothing "religous" about my post and you partying to that essay puts you on the same misunderstanding list. I was merely pointing out what one gets for that 20MB and why its worth it. Don't misunderstand it to even remotely extropolate that .NET is the tool for all jobs. We've already heard that rhetoric from your pals at Sun for years. 4:31:53 PM

© Copyright 2002 Sam Gentile.