sameer@c2.org writes:
I go further. Java, as envisioned, cannot be made secure. It is too powerful a language. Furthermore, it is unnecessary for the tasks that it is used for, which are basically adding fancy wacky graphics and simple applications and such to web pages.
Even though that is all it is used for now, I think it was *intended* to be used for more.
True. It's still lacking a couple of (non-language) features. The most important (and most cpunks relevant) is a mechanism to pay people to run programs for you. This sort of thing is dangerous without a safe environment. If it was safe to do so, I can see about two hundred PowerPC systems from where I sit that are idle 90% or more. As more users become permanently connected to the net (cable modems and such), there will be *millions* of computers with a little processing power each that are available for distributed tasks. The next generation of "Toy Story" just might be done in near real- time.