> >"Use technology because it's appropriate -- except in the case of 'Java' > > then just use it 'cause it's cool!" - Paul Russell > > This quote is so appropriate. Java = hype=cool. Java = reinvention of the > wheel. There is one big reason (multi platform = hype, also) why Java > became so popular: Netscape built interpretation of it into their browser > and Microsoft followed suit with IE. MS would not have built java interp. > if they were not directly competing for browser market share, and digit > heads had not created so many "cool" applets at the time. actually (IMHO that is) MS implemented JAVA and entered the browser market with such zealus for two (which are actually one) reasons - Windows and OLE (a.k.a. ActiveX) MS wanting dominance in the browser market is not a goal it is a way to protect all the investments in the windows platform - remember MSIE is free - and not only does it not generate any income it cost a lot of money in development costs (IMO MSIE is better then NS today, though with revision 5, NS4 looks more like MSIE) MS also quicly produced thier own Java compiler - which, yeah you guessed it , can also create ActiveX controls.. one point against Java (IMO) is that if I have something that runs the same both on my NC and my mainframe - then i think I can safely assume I won't be useing the whole power of my mainframe. If I start to build more functionality into the version that runs on the more poweful machines , I loose the other side of Java the crossplatfom capabilities as a somewhat unrelated side note - it has been argues in the MS newsgroups that VFP is very much like Java and if they would have renamed VFP500.dll the VFP virtual machine it would probably be more marketable (g) It