Archive of UserLand's first discussion group, started October 5, 1998.

Re: What do people use Java for?

Author:Chuck Shotton
Posted:2/23/1999; 7:49:06 AM
Topic:What do people use Java for?
Msg #:3142 (In response to 3140)
Prev/Next:3141 / 3143

They talk about Java without the hype and say interesting things about the value of servlets and applets

I'm continually amazed and baffled by the popularity of Java for server side applications. I cannot understand it. In server applications, speed and performance are of the utmost importance. Access to native O/S functions and resources are a requirement as well. Reliability and stability are unquestionably desirable traits of a server application. And in the case where performance isn't an issue, reconfigurability and dynamicism replace speed as the primary requirement.

So why would someone think that using a static language that is interpreted and has to be recompiled to accomodate any change on the server side of things is a good idea? Java is slower than native code in all cases, it doesn't provide particularly good access to the underlying O/S or hardware, it is definitely not robust in terms of reliability, and any changes require a complete edit/compile/reload cycle.

Contrast Java to a good scripting language, tuned to the O/S. A scripting environment that has close ties to the O/S will beat a compiled/interpreted language like Java in terms of its usefulness on the server side. Java is simply not dynamic enough to accomodate most of the more elaborate server side functions performed by tools like Frontier, ASPs, or other server back-end apps. Java provides all the rigidity of C with all of the performance of a scripting language. Ugh.

Where Java excels, at least as far as the way we use it, is as a rapid prototyping tool. It's rich class library, strong typing, tolerant memory management, and runtime environment provide a safe, efficient environment for quickly developing prototype code. But it certainly isn't my first choice as a language to roll out production systems. Yet.

I absolutely love using Java in this capacity. I cringe at the thought of sticking it behind a high volume Web server, however.

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