In contrast, at run time, obj is of known type and a compiler can inline hashCode . Well, for one, it's hard. Sun has a nontrivial percentage of the leading scientists that developed these techniques working for them now. Swing Set OK, so you believe Java is portable, you care about portability, and you know Java will soon be fast enough. Many programmers have answered yes to this question and have built their own window library using lightweight components, which they send along with their application.
Swing is a superb, professional set of widgets and controls for form-based programs.
But don't take my word for it, download the latest release from JavaSoft and run the Swing Set demo, which speaks for itself. Simply put, Microsoft's duty is rightfully to make money for its stockholders, and it is in Microsoft's best interest to have everyone writing applications that work only under Windows. That is, it understandably hates operating system-neutral applications. Microsoft embraced Java hoping to convince developers that it loves Java and that Microsoft is the de facto leader. Microsoft's removal of all Java applets from its Web site hardly bolsters the company's status as a Java enthusiast.