[Cialug] Java for Beginners

[Nathan Stien]

On Thu, Nov 19, 2009 at 8:15 AM, Daniel A. Ramaley <daniel.ramaley at drake.edu
> wrote:

> On 2009-11-18 at 17:26:09, Nathan Stien wrote:
> >just about every platform has at least a C compiler so C is in that
> >sense the *most* portable language.
>
> In theory. Of the languages i've worked with, C is the least portable. I
> find it ironic that it was specifically designed to be a portable
> language. Getting it to find all the libraries and include files usually
> seems to be the issue.
>

In fact.  As I said, the sense of portability I was discussing was total
number of platforms a C program can build and run on.  Nothing else comes
close, since most other languages (and indeed operating systems) are
ultimately implemented in terms of C.  Try running ruby/java/etc on a PIC
microcontroller or other devices lacking an OS. ;-)

Yes, in practice, system-dependent details can make the actual code more
complicated (trust me!).  But in terms of sheer platform count, C wins by a
mile.  And I don't see the irony about C being designed to be portable.
Compared to assembly languages, the relevant alternatives at the time, it
was a major improvement.

- Nathan
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