[Beowulf] Java vs C++ for interfacing to parallel library

[Geoff Jacobs]

Andrew Piskorski wrote:
> On Thu, Aug 17, 2006 at 04:56:10PM +1000, Jonathan Ennis-King wrote:
> 
>> I'm considering writing some parallel code to do fluid flow in porous
>> media, the heart of which is solving systems of sparse linear equations.
>> There are some good libraries in C which provide the parallel solver
>> (e.g. PETSC), but I'm trying to resolve which language to use for my
>> code. The choice is between C++ and Java, and although I'm favouring
>> Java at present, I'm not sure about its performance in this context.
> 
> Why limit your choice to only those two languages?  If using not-C for
> at least part of your code is appropriate (as it probably is), then
> there are probably many appropriate languages other than Java to pick
> from.
> 
*throws on his scalliwag hat*
And also many inappropriate languages, such as Intercal, APL, BrainF***,
or even Perl when you're on a caffeine buzz.
*removes hat*

I don't see what the question is. We don't know the requirements for the
software to be written, so it's sorta hard to evaluate against them. If
the library is handling most of the computation, I can't see how using a
VM language will really be of concern.

If you have access to a trained Java programmer who's a whiz with JNI,
go for it. If the people you can lay your hands on use C++, use that.

-- 
Geoffrey D. Jacobs

Go to the Chinese Restaurant,
Order the Special