[MUD-Dev] Java and Javascript

[Chris Gray]

[Caliban:]

:I can see both sides of this issue. I have a healthy aversion to canned
:code and downloaded components, but sometimes you have to ask yourself why
:you ought to build something someone else already did. The major question
:is whether the benefit outweighs the liability -- for example, if you build
:your client in Java, you inherit any security bug that might be found in
:Java. You have to ask yourself whether that's a risk worth taking; do you
:want the software done and out the door faster, or do you want it
:bulletproof? Time is a commodity, but so is reliability... and when you use
:someone else's framework, you're investing a lot of trust in that person.

The security issues with Java are normally aimed at protecting the server
from the client. So, typically they are not a concern for users of the
client software. The same with a MUD. True, a Java application can write
to your local disk, etc., but so can any other piece of someone else's
code that you run as a client. At least with Java, you have the protection
that Java offers to your server, which is likely better than what most
people could come up with by themselves.

:When I last installed the JDK, I had to manually enter several environment
:variables and registry keys. [snippage]
:		 I think it's a UNIX thing.

Nope. I downloaded the JDK (1.0, since we still have the old OS), for
HP-UX and installed it. I had to decide where to put it, then unpack
the archive. That's it. I don't recall even having to set a CLASSPATH.

--
Chris Gray   cg at ami-cg.GraySage.Edmonton.AB.CA