[citation][nom]alidan[/nom]there is no reason minecraft should be 1) so hard to apply mods2) take up so much resourcesas far as im concerned the whole game needs a ground up recode.[/citation]
For someone with strong opinions, you don't keep up well. Version 1.4 is planned to have a native modding interface (pretty much how bukkit is now, but works for single player as well, hence the single/multi merge). Secondly, it's Java. Java is slow, but it also allows the game to run seamlessly on Mac and Linux systems.
Anyone who has coded any significant project (such as myself) just laughs whenever someone suggests to re-code Minecraft... That would put an absolute halt on all updates for 2 years probably, minimum. Re-coding an application in another language is no simple matter, but I also must realize that no non-coder will ever understand that. C'est la vie.