You're Speaking my Language, Baby. Part 2: Java.

Author's note: As this post started out HUGE, it's been split into parts. You'll find the introduction here.

The first language I'm considering is Java. This is by far the language I'm most comfortable and proficient with. It was used for about 90% of my Bachelors degree, I wrote the entire codebase of my PhD using it, and it gets used here and there in my day job. I'm comfortable with Java, and find it to be quite a pleasant language to program in. Big tick on the question regarding my ability to use it, then. Java has some modest dynamic capabilities built in, but it also has a lot of small options for using higher level languages for the scripting, the cleanest of which is possibly Groovy.

Java has a bad reputation performance wise, but this largely isn't true any more. It does run using a virtual machine, but is compiled to native code at run time. It's a lot easier to write good code using Java than the other languages I'm considering, and that can help with performance a lot, but in general Java has the potential to be the slowest of the three, all things being equal.

Tools are actually not a problem. There are a lot of high quality graphics engines available for Java, with the Java Monkey Engine (JME) being my favourite. A physics add-on is available in the form of JMEPhysics, with the next version slated to have a physics engine baked in. Raw OpenGL is also an option with LWJGL, should I want it. Likewise, I suspect that the Red Dwarf Server is likely meet my communication needs.

The applicability of Java to other interested parties is an interesting question. A lot of software gets written in Java. A LOT. But the vast majority of it is not games. Largely, I think this is because it's perceived to be lacking in the performance department. It's also a little harder to protect you code when you're writing in Java, too. The previously mentioned JME has the support of a commercial games company, though, so clearly there is interest. Computers are getting faster at quite a rate, so performance has the potential to be less of a concern, especially if the project you're working on has the whiff of a server side application about it. When it comes to server side code, I think Java is definitely winning the race. Frankly, I have a bit of trouble calling this one either way.

One language down, two to go. Look for the next post tomorrow (here), should you be interested in such things.