Thus it was written in the epistle of James B. Byrne,
>
> Without wishing to touch off a language jahid, comments on the
> relative merits of Python and Java (or other commonly used
> programming tools freely available on Linux)  for programming
> business applications would also be appreciated.

As COBOL is not (SFAIK) freely available on Linux . . .

C, C++, Java, Perl, and Python (ordered by length of name :-), are pretty-much
equally valid choices for development, language bigots (such as me ;-) to the
contrary notwithstanding.  There are definite pluses and minuses to each, but
familiarity with the language, good programming practice, good systems
analysis, good documentation, etc. will outweigh the differences.

Ted
--
Ted Ashton ([log in to unmask]), Info Sys, Southern Adventist University
          ==========================================================
Perfect numbers, like perfect men, are very rare.
                                        -- Descartes, Rene (1596-1650)
          ==========================================================
         Deep thought to be found at http://www.southern.edu/~ashted

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