Spyke

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android

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Why does Android bother with Java?

First of all, since the very early days Android has always allowed apps to make use of native code using the "NDK", and in fact most games and most apps that do any sort of AI, image processing, or anything else complex like that make heavy use of native code already, for performance reasons.

Keep in mind that the decision to base Android apps around Java was made back in 2003 when Android was founded. Some of the reasons they picked Java were:

  • It's one of the most widely known languages by developers
  • It's hard to write code in languages like C and C++ without introducing memory bugs and security bugs. Using a higher-level language makes those bugs far less common.
  • It's portable - you note that Android only supports arm64 now, but at the time it was arm32, and Android has actually always had some level of support for x86 - you can run the emulator for x86, and some x86 Android devices exist. Using a bytecode language means Android is future-proof
  • It's not limited to just Java - the JVM has a rich ecosystem of languages that developers can use

Now 20 years later I think it's worked out pretty well. It's hard to imagine picking a different language would have worked out better. Java is still just as popular as ever, and Android developers can take advantage of all of the Java tools from any other platform or application.

Apple's original option for iOS apps was just Objective-C, which is higher-performance, but overall it's a more obscure, difficult to use language. Developers adopted it despite Obj-C, not because of it. Apple had to invent Swift to provide a more modern alternative, because Obj-C is basically not used anywhere else and it felt very ancient. While Swift is a pretty great language, it's still somewhat obscure, only used for iOS and Mac apps - while Java and JVM languages are used everywhere.

Anyway, let's say that Android really did want to switch, for some reason. I'm not sure why you think switching to compiled code would be less complex. How would all of the millions of existing Android apps migrate? What native languages would be supported? It'd be a huge transition for dubious benefits.

As it is, Android is extremely flexible. While the official APIs require a JVM language, because of the NDK you can basically write Android apps in whatever language you want. People have built frameworks enabling you to build Android apps in nearly every language under the sun.

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Wayne

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Wow, not my experience at all.

Today's younger generation is way more accepting of differences than any previous generation I've seen, and I'm Gen X.

Today's teenagers have friends who are gay, straight, trans, questioning, masculine, feminine, asexual, etc. and they're totally cool with it. They're like, you be you.

Gives me hope for the future.

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Daily Language Elitism

I also feel like it's not accurate anymore.

Java doesn't run on iOS. Period. In fact it's almost impossible to build an iOS app using Java - the only ways to do it are essentially to transpile Java to some other language, so Java isn't running on iOS at all.

iOS is one of the most popular operating system in the world by any measure. It supports a lot of languages.

But not Java.

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From a legal/evidence perspective, what is going to happen when it will become impossible to tell the difference between a video generated by AI versus the real thing?

My prediction: verified video will start to become a thing.

Phones will be able to encode a digital signature with a video that certifies the date, time, and location where the video was captured. Modifying the video in any way will invalidate it.

Same for photos.

People will stop believing photos and video that don't have a verifiable signature. Social networks and news organizations will automatically verify the signatures of all photos and videos they display.

Technically this is already possible today, it just needs to become mainstream and the default.

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How is it even possible/practical to obey traffic laws?

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I have a hard time reconciling that with my observations in Europe:

  • People travel significantly faster than in the U.S., for example on the autobahn
  • Taxi drivers routinely do things I consider crazy in order to get around old European cities, like driving up on sidewalks, passing on narrow two-lane roads
  • There are a lot of narrow mountain roads and people seem to drive way too fast to be safe

I've never felt like European drivers were "more safe".

The only differences I can think of that are positive for Europe:

  • Less drunk driving
  • Traffic circles instead of stop signs

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Democrats, Popcorn in Hand, Root for a Rowdy G.O.P. Debate

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Here's the difference.

The Democrats are diverse. You've got some true believers who want universal basic income and free medicare for all. You've got right-leaning centrists who want lower taxes and less regulation, but they're not as socially conservative as Republicans. You've got some who vote their conscience, and others who are corrupt. It's difficult to get them all to agree, but when they find common ground, their ideas are generally pretty popular with the people (Obamacare, the Infrastructure deal, etc.).

The Republicans have no platform. They have no plan. They have no consistent views. They have no desire to govern constructively whatsoever. The very few things they can agree on and get done, like conservative judges and banning abortion, are extremely unpopular and set the country back.

You really think there's no difference between the two parties? The difference has never been larger, ever.

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What is keeping you on reddit?

I've switched to Lemmy for random browsing of memes, pop culture, and tech news.

I'm hoping Lemmy will soon be large enough that major world news events will pop up there, too.

I still go to Reddit for just a couple of niche communities. Lemmy isn't large enough for there to be active communities about every TV show and every hobby, yet. Looking forward to when we hit that size.

Also: no rush. We're early adopters. Lemmy has gotten a LOT better in the last month, so I'm glad that everyone didn't rush to join it right away. I'd rather that when small communities consider migrating, they can do so and have a great experience.

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"If you tell a lie big enough and tell it frequently enough, people will eventually come to believe it". What is an example of this happening today?

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Are you trying to illustrate the point?

It wasn't 200, it was 2000.

And while most did not carry guns, they brought other weapons and armor, and used improvised devices as weapons. And some did bring guns. Source: https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2021/07/28/politics/armed-insurrection-january-6-guns-fact-check/index.html

Thank God they were poorly organized and that the capitol police resisted...but it's a complete lie to say it was 200 unarmed people.

This is all on video! This isn't a matter of opinion!

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Trump heading for Republican 'coronation' as 2024 rivals struggle to stop him

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I don't buy that argument. That would only make sense if Republican voters actually care about "dirt" and would not vote for a politician who was tainted. But obviously we know that's not the case. Republicans who have been accused of everything from embezzling money to grooming children have done just as well in their elections, because their voters would still prefer a crooked Republican over the most saintly Democrat.