Re: An introduction to MI by example II (part B)...

Excerpts from mi400: 19-Nov-99 RE: An introduction to MI b.. Leif
Svalgaard@pentasafe (1612) 

> > Anyway, you don't use Java for performance reasons 

>       [Leif Svalgaard]  Except that is what Blair was advocating. 

Well, umm, errr...  sorta. 

My intention was to promote the use of Java over the use of *MI*,
particularly if you have a lot of new code to write.  While MI runs
about as fast as it is ever going to (processor speed notwithstanding),
Java has a _lot_ of room left between the pedal and the floorboard. 

And it is true that Java's lack of pointers lets it run on the AS/400 in
ways that other HLLs cannot.   Of course, Java has a whole lot of
wonderful features ("feechurs"?  :) that other languages lack, and
facilitating them can be costly.  For instance, there is definitely
overhead, when running Java on the AS/400 today, that arises solely from
Java's requirement to support multiple threads of execution within a
process.  You pay this overhead even if your application is essentially
single-threaded...  But, the question then becomes, "why be
single-threaded"?  ;-) 

Let me just add that, from a platform-neutral standpoint, Jon's insight
is unquestionable.  Performance is certainly *not* among the top reasons
to use Java.  My point is that, unlike some platforms, performance is
not a reason to *avoid* Java on the AS/400. 

Now, back to your regularly-scheduled MI programming.  *8-) 

-blair 

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