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From: Don Ferguson <ferguson@tc.pw.com>
Subject: Re: Will Java kill C++?
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Date: Thu, 11 Apr 1996 20:33:17 GMT
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Xref: glinda.oz.cs.cmu.edu comp.lang.java:39340 comp.lang.c++:184094 comp.lang.smalltalk:37129

Joe Kraska wrote:
> 
>>>Is it possible that Java will become the Prolog or PL/1 of the 90's?
>>
>> I don't have any first hand experience with PL/1 but your
>> characterization of Prolog is neither fair nor accurate.
>> Prolog was developed primarily within the academic community,
> 
> I agree with this sentiment. I can scarely believe that someone who
> had ever programmed in prolog would compare it to a language like
> Java or C. Prolog isn't 'for' that.
> 
> On the other hand, I don't know how it was marketed at the time.
> If the marketeers tried to push Prolog off as the next great solution
> (did they?), then shame on them.

The claim that Prolog was heavily marketed is misinformed.  I worked
for Quintus (a leading Prolog vendor) for 10 years, and they
barely even had a marketing department.  There was a bit of media hype
surrounding Prolog and the Japanese 5th generation project, but there
was never the groundswell of programmer interest in Prolog like there
is for Java.  Prolog is quite powerful, but it is a difficult language
to master, and that is the main reason(IMHO) that it has never become
popular.
