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Re: eerie Java-BASIC (partially OT)

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On 6/3/2012 8:15 AM, Arne Vajhøj wrote:
> On 6/2/2012 12:41 PM, Lew wrote:
>> Arne Vajhøj wrote:
>>> Arne Vajhøj wrote:
>>>> Stefan Ram wrote:
>>>>> BASIC was the first programming language I learned and the
>>>>> second programming language I was giving classes for (the
>>>>> first one being Pascal).
>>>>>
>>>>> In the next week, I will give my first VB class. So - for
>>>>> preparation - I did have a look at some VB source code.
>>>>> And I had an eerie feeling when reading the following part,
>>>>> thinking: This is actually Java, just with a BASIC syntax!
>>>>>
>>>>> If ret.StartsWith("-") Or ret.StartsWith("/") Then Throw New
>>>>> Exception(...)
>>>>>
>>>>> I mean, »String#startsWith« and »throw new Exception ...« are
>>>>> not part of the classic BASIC, but surely are part of Java!
>>>>>
>>>>> (But then, one can also dispute that VB actually /has/ a BASIC
>>>>> syntax: There are no line numbers, it does not understand
>>>>> LET, GOSUB nor »PRINT 1,2;3«. And of course, there is no
>>>>> »MAT«, »DEF FN...« or READ/DATA. So it's Java with a made-up
>>>>> syntax, which possibly partially resembles BASIC.)
>>>>>
>>>>> Well, Java surely is influential. Maybe the
>>>>> programming-language landscape will slowly converge to some
>>>>> set of common features/classes and syntax.
>>>>
>>>> If you with VB means VB.NET then you are absolutely correct.
>>>>
>>>> VB.NET is C# with VB syntax and C# is close to a superset of Java.
>>>>
>>>> And the .NET library is also rather close to the Java library.
>>>>
>>>> Anders Hejlsberg worked on MS Java before he started working
>>>> on .NET and C#.
>>>
>>> Note that this also somewhat imply that you should not
>>> expect a general convergence in languages/libraries as
>>> these similarities have a very specific explanation.
>>
>> Yes, like that library designers tend to see a need for the same
>> functionality, e.g., eliciting String prefixes, and they tend to use the
>> obvious English-like names, e.g., "starts with".
>
> It is obviously a good name.
>
> But there are other good names.
>
> begin with
> start is
> first is
> has prefix
>

Prefix Compare
...


or, hell, they could have just mapped a bunch of C like or C++ like APIs 
onto .NET instead.

"fopen"/"fread"/"printf"/... anyone?

"if(s1.strcmp(s2)==0)"?

...


> etc.
>
>> But the designer and ecosystem stemming from C# does go a long way to
>> explain such close similarities.
>
> Difficult not to assume some inspiration.
>

especially when many of the other library classes and methods are 
considered as well.

it seems unlikely that MS would independently reinvent many "nearly 
identical" classes, with the primary difference often being mostly that 
"java" and "java.lang" were replaced by "System", ...

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Re: eerie Java-BASIC (partially OT) Arne Vajhøj <arne@vajhoej.dk> - 2012-06-02 10:39 -0400
  Re: eerie Java-BASIC (partially OT) Arne Vajhøj <arne@vajhoej.dk> - 2012-06-02 10:40 -0400
    Re: eerie Java-BASIC (partially OT) Lew <noone@lewscanon.com> - 2012-06-02 09:41 -0700
      Re: eerie Java-BASIC (partially OT) Roedy Green <see_website@mindprod.com.invalid> - 2012-06-03 00:44 -0700
        Re: eerie Java-BASIC (partially OT) Arne Vajhøj <arne@vajhoej.dk> - 2012-06-03 09:18 -0400
      Re: eerie Java-BASIC (partially OT) Arne Vajhøj <arne@vajhoej.dk> - 2012-06-03 09:15 -0400
        Re: eerie Java-BASIC (partially OT) BGB <cr88192@hotmail.com> - 2012-06-03 13:50 -0500
        Re: eerie Java-BASIC (partially OT) Gene Wirchenko <genew@ocis.net> - 2012-06-03 19:29 -0700
          Re: eerie Java-BASIC (partially OT) Arne Vajhøj <arne@vajhoej.dk> - 2012-06-16 23:35 -0400
            Re: eerie Java-BASIC (partially OT) Lew <noone@lewscanon.com> - 2012-06-16 23:29 -0700
              Re: eerie Java-BASIC (partially OT) Arne Vajhøj <arne@vajhoej.dk> - 2012-06-17 18:33 -0400
  Re: eerie Java-BASIC (partially OT) BGB <cr88192@hotmail.com> - 2012-06-03 13:26 -0500
    Re: eerie Java-BASIC (partially OT) Lew <noone@lewscanon.com> - 2012-06-03 12:13 -0700
      Re: eerie Java-BASIC (partially OT) BGB <cr88192@hotmail.com> - 2012-06-03 15:42 -0500
        Re: eerie Java-BASIC (partially OT) Lew <noone@lewscanon.com> - 2012-06-03 14:23 -0700
          Re: eerie Java-BASIC (partially OT) Lew <noone@lewscanon.com> - 2012-06-03 14:25 -0700
          Re: eerie Java-BASIC (partially OT) BGB <cr88192@hotmail.com> - 2012-06-05 09:22 -0500
            Re: eerie Java-BASIC (partially OT) Lew <lewbloch@gmail.com> - 2012-06-05 09:54 -0700
      Re: eerie Java-BASIC (partially OT) Arne Vajhøj <arne@vajhoej.dk> - 2012-06-16 23:34 -0400
        Re: eerie Java-BASIC (partially OT) "Mike Schilling" <mscottschilling@hotmail.com> - 2012-06-24 17:02 -0700
          Re: eerie Java-BASIC (partially OT) Lew <noone@lewscanon.com> - 2012-06-24 23:09 -0700
    Re: eerie Java-BASIC (partially OT) Arne Vajhøj <arne@vajhoej.dk> - 2012-06-16 23:30 -0400

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