Comments on: The Myth of Platform-Independent Applications http://technologizer.com/2009/11/17/the-myth-of-platform-independent-applications/ Reviews, News, and Opinion About Personal Technology by Harry McCracken & Friends Sun, 21 Mar 2010 12:40:50 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ hourly 1 By: Josh http://technologizer.com/2009/11/17/the-myth-of-platform-independent-applications/comment-page-1/#comment-29965 Josh Tue, 17 Nov 2009 21:16:52 +0000 http://technologizer.com/?p=19725#comment-29965 Java is still the best way to develop platform independent applications and you don't even need to write it in Java. Now you can write your application in Python, Ruby, Scala, Groovy, or a handful of other languages that run on the JVM. The JVM is the best virtual machine on the market. It's amazingly fast, sometimes even faster than native applications. Unfortunately, the problem of non-native interfaces remains, although SWT virtually eliminates this problem and Swing has improved significantly. In fact, a lot of Java applications look so similar to the native widgets that users don't even notice. Look at Eclipse for a good example of this. What is more difficult to replicate is native behavioral quirks unique to the platform. I don't care for AIR applications either. Nothing beats a native client. Java is still the best way to develop platform independent applications and you don’t even need to write it in Java. Now you can write your application in Python, Ruby, Scala, Groovy, or a handful of other languages that run on the JVM.

The JVM is the best virtual machine on the market. It’s amazingly fast, sometimes even faster than native applications. Unfortunately, the problem of non-native interfaces remains, although SWT virtually eliminates this problem and Swing has improved significantly. In fact, a lot of Java applications look so similar to the native widgets that users don’t even notice. Look at Eclipse for a good example of this. What is more difficult to replicate is native behavioral quirks unique to the platform.

I don’t care for AIR applications either. Nothing beats a native client.

]]> By: tom b http://technologizer.com/2009/11/17/the-myth-of-platform-independent-applications/comment-page-1/#comment-29961 tom b Tue, 17 Nov 2009 20:47:39 +0000 http://technologizer.com/?p=19725#comment-29961 Adobe has long tended to dumb down Mac versions of its "non-air" applications so they look consistent between Mac and Windows. Adobe is "coasting"; they don't understand that nothing in their product portfolio has a very deep "moat" around it. Photoshop has the deepest moat, but that's just because PS has SO many features. Adobe has long tended to dumb down Mac versions of its “non-air” applications so they look consistent between Mac and Windows.

Adobe is “coasting”; they don’t understand that nothing in their product portfolio has a very deep “moat” around it. Photoshop has the deepest moat, but that’s just because PS has SO many features.

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