Thursday, November 28, 2002

My Java. Since everyone seems to be putting out their wish lists for Java, I thought I'd contribute mine. It's pretty short, though. First, I'd like to see simple enumerations and sets, a la Pascal. Pascal is one of the most readable languages for a reason -- its enumerations and sets are a big part of that. Why modern languages have become so miminal is beyond me. There are some things that are just extremely general and useful. They shouldn't be removed simply because we can find another way to do them. Next, let's get first class functions (or blocks) into the language. I've see at least one proposal floating around for that, but I'd have to say that I didn't really like it. It confused function calling notation with block calling. There's probably a better way. I'd like to see the VM pushed strongly in the direction of being more language independent. The CLR has a big advantage in this area -- Sun really needs to get it together here. We should be able to construct IDEs that do just what is done with .NET -- multiple languages can be plugged in and used with a common toolset. I'd like to see aspects or their equivalent built into the language. Any sufficiently complex application will end up writing its own versions of crosscutted functionality. We might as well have it in the language. Yes, it's overkill for the little programs. So what. It won't be for long. 11:21:30 PM