Welcome to java, we have a couple unconventional ways of doing things, but overall I'm like every other mainstream oo language.
People: AHH! Scary!
Welcome to python. your knowledge of me wont help you elsewhere as my syntax is purposefully obtuse and unique. Forget about semicolons, one missed space and your code is as worthless as you after learning this language.
You can't use Python without a linter. I have everything setup in vscode to use tabs yet copilot autocomplete insists on inserting random spaces everywhere creating indentation errors. The linter is essential to quickly see and fix them.
I refuse to code in Python without a really good IDE and linting like PyCharm. When using PyCharm it's very rare I have issues like this, because it catches them in one way or another, but I notice it catches those kinds of issues a lot when I'm coding soooooooo....
I have also setup the IDE to specifically color code comments like
' # End If
and
' # Next
in the same style as their beginning statements as I find it much easier to visually scam through code when they are present.
"No, I don't use type annotations because they don't actually do anything. In fact I purposefully give this parameter different types for different behaviors. How is that confusing?"
This still uses preview features though. However, like you demonstrated already, compilation is no longer a required step for simplistic programs like this.
It must be somewhere under the hood. Otherwise, it wont be callable and it would require an instance of an object to call. Unless the object here is the Java environment?
No String[] args
They are just optional I'm sure, like C and C++. You still need them to read command line arguments.
All in all, these syntax improvements are welcome. I already moved on to Kotlin for Android development though.
It must be somewhere under the hood. Otherwise, it wont be callable and it would require an instance of an object to call. Unless the object here is the Java environment?
If an unnamed class has an instance main method rather than a static main method then launching it is equivalent to the following, which employs the existing anonymous class declaration construct:
new Object() {
// the unnamed class's body
}.main();
No String[] args
They are just optional I'm sure, like C and C++. You still need them to read command line arguments.
Without the preview feature enabled, it is not an optional part of the method signature. It specifically looks for a main(String[]) signature.
I am not in the mood to read a technical document, but I don’t think the resulting binary/byte code should be different between the two “hello world” programs. But then again, why not?
Without the preview feature enabled, it is not an optional part of the method signature. It specifically looks for a main(String[]) signature.
Ah ha! So that’s what’s going on here. They almost got it right. They had the potential to make a lot of the boilerplate optional or implicit under relevant circumstances, but instead the language has two explicit switchable modes.
Can I write a Java application in “preview feature”?
I mentioned this uses preview features twice in the first comment regarding this, so I don't know why you're "ah ha"ing. Also you don't need to read the technical document, I've quoted the entirety of the relevant text. I provided it as a citation.
You seem confused about preview features. It's not a switchable mode to reduce boiler plate. I find the name very clear, but here is more information. From JEP-12
A preview feature is a new feature of the Java language, Java Virtual Machine, or Java SE API that is fully specified, fully implemented, and yet impermanent. It is available in a JDK feature release to provoke developer feedback based on real world use; this may lead to it becoming permanent in a future Java SE Platform.
As an example, JDK 17 added pattern matching for switch statements as a preview, and by JDK 21 it was added as a full fledged feature that doesn't require usage of the enable preview flag. Presumably in some future release of Java this feature will not require the usage of a flag.
Yes, because it's genuinely not a static method. It's an instance method. Also the signature is different. It's not some sort of mere syntactic trick that translates void main() to public static void main(String[] args).
I got the impression they skipped the hello world cause it was too easy and they wanted to get right to writing their app, so they moved on to more advanced stuff without having a real grasp of the basics