Do I really need to learn Java?

[Neil Hodgson]

Nathan Gray:
> Notice that the Java code consistently takes 5-40 times (!!) more memory
> than *any* of the other languages in almost every single test!  If it were
> one or two tests, I would chalk it up to a flawed program, but this is a
> consistent, serious problem.  My personal experience with writing Java
code
> supports these benchmarks.  I took a course in Java at work and wrote a
lot
> of simple programs.  It seemed that no matter how small the program, it
> grabbed at least 10 to 20 megs when it ran.

   Has anyone analysed Java memory use to find out whether this excessive
use is a multiplier on top of the memory used by other languages or if it a
once-only overhead caused by waking Java up? If it is mostly a fixed cost
required to start up the JVM then it will be reasonable under many
circumstances. If it requires every Java program to utilise n times the
memory of a non-Java program, especially if n is 5-40, then Java should be
avoided for almost all applications.

   Neil