They didn't rewrite the whole software, that would take ages...
The migration from C to C++ was slowly progressing since Inkscape was forked from Sodipodi over 10 years ago, but there are still some C files remaining and SP* prefixes are used all over the place.
Besides, Sodipodi was already using simple GObject-based architecture.
You want a stable performant language OO language that uses the GUI toolkit on Linux, Windows and MacOS. Your team and existing project have a C background. What do you choose in 2012 and why?
There is already an SVG editor written in Java called Kiyut Sketsa, it is unusable due to the poor performance of the Batik rendering engine (also written in Java).
It makes sense to use high level languages to manipulate the document model or to implement widgets, but when it comes to the renderer you want to be as close to the metal as possible.
But, yeah, it's going to be easier. It's also an opportunity to consider another language that might improve productivity, reliability etc. in the future. Just wondering. Didn't mean to start a language war :-)
