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Java as a first language.

C and C++ may have additional uses as machine/assembly level programming languages that Java does not intend to be.

Java surpasses C and C++ in its capability and ease to build desktop, webbased and mobile applications. Someone who knows Java does not have to go back to C or C++ because Java is a more refined language. (Expertise in C or C++ would be required in tasks that requires programming at a level that Java does not get down to, but that is besides the point made here)

Why would someone start on his learning path with C or C++ ???

When Java was first introduced, most of those who signed up to learn Java knew C or C++, so the teachers were addressing a class of C and C++ experts and began an introduction to Java by talking about what Java has that C and C++ does not have and by explaining the Java's refinements over C and C++.

This assumption of prior exposure to C and C++ is still prevalent among Java teachers. Most of the Java courses, even at the introdutory level, get into a comparision mode, and in this "introduction" the student is assumed to be familiar with C and C++.

Is there an unwritten convention among programming students to begin their journey as students with C ? Is it required ?

This gets the students into a sequence of learning C, then unlearning parts of C inorder to learn Java ...

Why wouldn't the Java learning programs have an all new approach - Teach Java as a first language ?

Apart from this unwanted assumption about prior exposure to C and C++, teachers and course designers make another wrong assumption. That the student is already exposed to Java applets and the end applications that would result from programming. So the approach is more like teaching a kid in the kintergarden the formula to calculate the area of a triangle, even before the kid is shown a triangle. It becomes difficult for the kid to comprehend what is taught.

Why wouldn't the teachers begin by giving a tour of the Java applets, Java servlets, Java Games, Java applications before defining objects and methods ? Sort of beginning with the final picture...

Laptop for the World's Children

Two days ago I had a glimpse of the AMD Geode processor and while looking for information stumbled upon the One Laptop Per Child (www.laptop.org) project founded by MIT Media Lab's Nicholas Negroponte and the project is all about a $100 laptop built around a AMD Geode processor with a feature list that is fascinating.

The laptop looks pretty stylish. Weighs less than 1.5 KG, convertible laptop with pivoting, reversible display; dirt- and moisture-resistant system enclosure featuring an AMD Geode LX-700@0.8W 433 Mhz, 256 MiB dynamic RAM, 1024KB SPI-interface flash ROM, 1024 MiB SLC NAND flash as mass storage, high-speed flash controller, 7.5” Dual-mode TFT display with a 1200x900 200 DPI resolution, a sealed rubber-membrane key-switch assembly keyboard, dual apacitance/resistive touchpad; supports written-input mode, AC97-compatible audio codec; stereo, with dual internal speakers; Marvell Libertas 88W8388+88W8015, 802.11b/g compatible wireless; dual adjustable, rotating coaxial antennas; supports diversity reception, 640×480 resolution, 30FPS video camera 1A max power total, 5 cell 6 V battery, sort of a temperature proof design. Looks stylish.

The software ? I copy and paste below:

Components from Red Hat's Fedora Core 6 version of the Linux operating system; we are tracking the main kernel fairly closely. We will support five programming environments on the laptop: (1) Python, from which we have built our user interface and our activity model; (2) Javascript for browser-based scripting; (3) Csound, a programmable music and audio environment; (4) Squeak, a version of Smalltalk embedded into a media-rich authoring environment; and (5) Logo. We will also provide some support Java and Flash. Applications will include a web browser built on Xulrunner, the run-time environment used by the Firefox browser; a simple document viewer based upon Evince; the AbiWord wordprocessor, an RSS reader, an email client, chat client, VOIP client; a journal a wiki with WYSIWYG editing; a multimedia authoring and playback environment; a music composition toolkit, graphics toolkits, games, a shell, and a debugger. Libraries and plugins used by OLPC include Xul, GTK+, Matchbox, Sugar, Pango, ATK, Cairo, X Window System, Avahi, and gstreamer.

Sugar appears to have a original GUI "architecture" on its own, very creative....

$100. If Dell or HP were to introduce a similar laptop, (if this project didn't exist and if a similar product developed purely on a commercial context) the package of features and software and the style, would have caused them to consider pricing the product at a price in excess of $ 1000, justifiably so, perhaps with a little more powerful processor and slightly wider display.

Inspiring.

Java Everywhere invisible and on the Desktop visible....

Even before a computer has the Java Desktop environment, there is already so much of Java in that computer - in any computer, unix or windows.

Java is all over. There is Java in the computer in so many forms - Java Run Time environment, Java Browser componets, and Java is the language behind several application programs in the computer.

When a Java Desktop is installed in this "already-java" environment, the machine speaks one language - Java... Of course it is not all Java, but what i am saying is that there would be a harmonious interaction between the desktop interface and the application software....

Does this theory make sense ???

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