8 replies to this topic

[Psychotron]

Which is more fun for you to program in, Java or C++?

[Alexander]

I am sure Java has more appeal when leisurely programming as it has various libraries for threading, applets (internet applications), server pages (JSP), graphical applications and networking. With C++ you have to rely often on third party solutions especially if you are to develop for other platforms.

[liamzebedee]

Thats true. By fun what do you mean?

[Psychotron]

liamzebedee said:

Thats true. By fun what do you mean?

Well, for example, I have experience with Visual Basic (which I strangely never hear a thing about in class). I thought it was very fun. I guess by fun I mean how good do I feel once I've completed the program. How do I feel about the program I made (does it look professional, etc)

[ZekeDragon]

I suppose then that the answer to your question is truly one of perspective. I'm probably not in too unusual of a position, but I know and use both C++ and Java pretty extensively (and don't use Visual Basic ever), so this question is pretty relevant to what I do. Unfortunately this also tips off the good ol' Programming Language War debates, which after a while just get tedious but do provide a benefit in that people who are on the fence or undecided in which language to pursue can read the wealth of information on each language courtesy of the Language War.

I know that my answer to this question will be disappointing to many (especially on this forum), but I cannot help but feel this way. I use both of these languages (yes by choice), both are invaluable tools that are extremely useful for their domains, and given whatever situation you're in they will both be capable and rewarding. But... the question is which one is more 'fun', and fun is defined as how good it feels to complete a program and how one feels after the program is completed.

My answer to that is that (subjectively, to me) Java is more 'fun' than C++. The Java compiler is more likely to find unintentional errors in your program (for example not initializing a local variable), the provided Java libraries allow you to experiment with and combine objects faster (development-wise, not run-time), and you can show your Java programs to more people since all Java programs are extremely cross-platform portable. Java programs also tend to be pretty easy to get off the ground, for example if you wanted to produce a graphical Rock-Paper-Scissors game, it would be far simpler to try with Java since the runtime comes out of the box with all you need, and with C++ you must evaluate graphical libraries and choose one of your preference (which is yet another debate all on it's own).

However, I think on this issue you're splitting hairs. Neither of these languages were designed to be fun, they were designed to be useful tools in application that a large number of programmers would be familiar enough with to maintain a program they didn't write. They were designed to yield immediate gains for those who employed the language, as a matter of practicality. Simply put, whether or not the language was fun was not a consideration of the original designers, I don't think.

Anyway, yeah, that's what I think. I leave this to the rest now.

[WingedPanther]

For myself, I find that Java has a few quirks that I find annoying, such as lack of support for operator overloading. Overall, however, I'll use whatever tool is best for the task at hand.

[DarkLordofthePenguins]

They are both a pain in the @$$.

[fayyazlodhi]

The more high level a language is, the more fun in the simple sense of the word it would give. Java is certainly much easier to get a program up and running. But if we take this as a criteria visual basic / python / .net framework would be even more fun.

But again if you definition of fun is different for e.g. if you like to know line by line what is happening at the back end (which i agree is a pretty rare definition of fun) then certainly you would enjoy c/c++.

[cipl]

C++ provides more fun than Java because C++ is a modular programming language has features for low-level programming also. C++ provides multiple inheritance where Java does not. Also There are no destructors in Java like C++.