>> If you're comfortable in C, you'll enjoy java.

> A very big generalisation. I like C and Java is very unappealing.
> Java doesn't permit any of the machine specific code that C allows.

No, it's just a generalization  - I believe it to be generally true but
that doesn't mean there won't be individual exceptions.

> Personally I like having the ability to use the *NERP style of
> programming.
> *) not even remotely portable

I can understand that - just like I understand that there are some people
who prefer programming in assembly language, etc.

Sure, there are some machine specific things that java doesn't do -
especially if those kinds of operations don't even exist on other systems. 
But the trade off can be worthwhile.  My husband writes GUI java
applications that run unchanged on windows, solaris, unixware, aix, and
linux.  I use java applications to perform a number of bbs related tasks on
my linux system.. as a matter of fact Ron wrote the first one on his win98
system for me when I switched from OS/2 to linux and moved it across the
network to my system where it ran unchanged.  Could he have written the
same utility in C ? yes, given that he's been doing cross-platform
programming in C for 15+ years and knows the areas of code that need to be
changed.  ...but he'd rather program in Java because it's more fun (his
words) 

Take care,
Janis

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