100% Pure Java, or Viable Java?

Good essay by David Jeske on the 100% pure Java mindset. Native code exists at some level “under Java” whether written by the application developer or not. In a competitive market, it comes down to whether you can build the best application in Java or not. Users shouldn’t notice or care that it’s written in Java. If using SWT allows you to build a better application, why the focus on Java purity? Swing is cross-platform emulation of platform look-and-feel. It’s a subset of what’s possible on any given platform. SWT is analogous to Swing but with a difference: SWT uses a rich set of native widgets. SWT is implemented on different platforms using a combination of Java code and JNI natives specific to each platform. It sounds a bit odd but has worked well for Eclipse. It allows the bulk of an application to be written portably in Java and still feel like a completely native application.