4. Myths and realities

The aim of this presentation was to show what Java is all about, what you can expect from it and how to get there. We can now take stock of the various qualities that are attributed to this language.

An object-oriented language.

Java is an object-oriented language, but it doesn't offer everything you'd expect from a language of this type. In a sense, object purists may be disappointed, but the language is simple enough for programmers with little knowledge of object technology to get to grips with it and master it quickly. Only the notions of redefinitions and dynamic linking of methods may require some learning. The fact that the syntax is very similar to that of C or C++ is another factor that makes it easier to get to grips with the language. However, this syntactic closeness does not translate into semantic closeness. Java is a long...