GCJ: Java generics ala Sun JDK1.5

[David Jung]

Hi.  Quick Q:
According to Sun's site on their prototype javac with support for
generics, they were planning to make generics part of the Java language
spec. as of 1.4, but have delayed it until 1.5.
Is anyone working on adding generics to gcj?  If not, is it a priority to
add it, or will you hang back until after 1.5 has been released by Sun?
Thanks,
-David Jung.


Optional reading :) ......

Motivation:
I'm currently re-evaluating my preferred development environment.
I've always been a C++ developer, but about 4(?) years ago I switched to
Java2 as I liked:
* portability
* comprehensive standard library
* garbage collection

However, I've since switched back to C++ in frustration at no generics
in Java, and poor performance.  Now I'm considering switching again.
My options...

Java:
* GCJ solves performance issues and integrates well with C++
* Generics are slated for introduction in v1.5, and are Sun's javac now.
  (but GCJ doesn't yet support them)
* Will have to make do without operator overloading :(
* In my opinion, the proliferation of Java APIs has not been well
  managed and is a mess ( -but as least there are options!)

C# / .NET:
* Includes all the features of Java that I care about, plus more
* Has a bytecode that is more ameanable to translation to register based 
machines
  (hence performance is better)
* Although standardized, is controlled by MS, which I don't trust
* Open source Mono implementstion is still in early development
* Not deployed as widely as Java, but probably will be
  (instead of too many APIs and duplication, almost no 3rd party APIs yet)

Any comments/suggestions ?

---
Computer Science and Mathematics Division
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Oak Ridge, TN, USA