News, info, and opinion by Mac users, for Mac users.

January 31, 2007

software

Allow me to sell you a bridge

Posted Jan. 31, ’07, 7:39 AM PT by Derik DeLong
Category | Software

Adium The fine Adium development team started closing in on version 1.0 a while back. While the betas have been treating me really well, it never got the warm fuzzy final release status. The devs have explained why. First, they decided to use some Java libraries.

Then, disaster struck. Rather, Apple did. They deprecated the Java-Objective-C language bridge that we were depending on. We had a few choices, none were very good. We could spend 1-2 years rewriting both Joscar and Smack to work using JNI, the supported way going forward for what we were doing with Joscar and Smack. We could have spent time doing other things. In the end, the decision was made to move back to Libgaim, and just take it. In some ways this is where Microsoft is a better platform, since they inform everyone of their roadmaps way beforehand. But it’s what we’re left with. Evan, David and myself came up with a letter to send out to everyone, Evan sent it, and we moved on.

Lately, Apple has been dropping Java like something far more offensive, but no less warm, than a hot potato. As part of that, Apple burned the Java-Objective-C language bridge (I don’t care if you won’t forgive me for the pun). This behavior isn’t directly visible to end users, but its effects can be felt. By eliminating an option for developers, end users can expect some software to lack features or slower development. While Java may get a bad rap, it’s still relevant and frequently used. This is one case where Apple shouldn’t succumb to public perception and do what’s right for developers and users.


1 Comments

Dave said:

Just because you have one developer using the Cocoa-Java bridge doesn't mean Apple didn't do the right thing for developers and users. The simple fact is that Java's strength is its cross-platform capabilities. Obviously using the Cocoa bridge eliminates that. Most (a vast majority) of developers use Objective-C with Cocoa or a full Java implementation. These developers are better served by new APIs (i.e., CoreAnimation), tools, and language features (i.e., garbage collection and othe Objective-C 2.0 features) than a better bridge to Java.

Also, deprecated doesn't mean dead and gone. It means expect no further development and limited support. It is Apple's mechanism for informing developers of what's happening. Comparing Apple's roadmaps to Microsoft's is hardly fair. If microsoft tells you that they're dropping something in their next release, you have six years to prepare.

January 31, 2007 9:23 AM

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