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Java is here to stay

Why Java is ready for enterprise applications

By John Rommel, JavaWorld.com, 01/15/00

Java is here, enterprise ready, and already running at more than 10,000 companies, large and small. This Emerging Technology commentary is part of a new bimonthly segment of JavaWorld that discusses current Java trends. In it, I will examine Java and alert you to developments in the ecommerce world.

Java is an important language. It's easy to learn and it's gaining momentum every day. Its absence of multiple errors, removal of templates and pointers, and incorporation of garbage collection, synchronization, and multithreading have made it an improvement over C++. It also has a practical mix of primitive types and object-oriented constructs.

Over the past few years, Java has been portrayed as the do-everything tool, perhaps prematurely. But the hype was no fault of Java or its designers; it was merely the natural consequence of two corporate dynamics: the evangelistic marketing of vendors who tout a product as a panacea for all ailments, and quirky project specifications with poorly defined, shifting targets. Hence, fabled expectations that Java would dominate the desktop space and would replace HTML were never met. That is because, early on, Java lacked speed and because tools such as XML diminished the need for Java on the desktop.

Today, Java has evolved into the best solution for your well-specified server-side applications. It is portable, reduces development time, and minimizes development costs. But no matter what the technology, the correct development solution for you depends on your application.

Is Java ready?

Java's simplicity, compared with the requirements of C++, allows a developer to write more code in less time. Scalability, security, and time to market are critical issues in enterprise computing, where server-side and Enterprise JavaBeans answer the calls of tens of thousands of concurrent clients. Companies such as Oracle -- which says that Java has improved its database and enterprise resource planning (ERP) capabilities on disparate platforms -- have benefited from the productivity gains that only the Java language can deliver.

But not everyone is convinced of Java's ability. Some pundits characterize Java's scalability in enterprise implementation as problematic and opt to use a C compiler or assembler for more control. However, with any higher-level language such as Java, you must give up some control to increase productivity. A productivity gain is one of Java's many strengths. Other critics question the efficiency of a language in which specific areas of memory are continuously being allocated and reallocated. Although a valid concern (other languages have been known to perform better than Java), Java's rewards far outweigh its setbacks. Java is easier to write and modify, and it is less prone to bugs than other languages.

Java is also easier to maintain than C++. Since creating and maintaining software is a manager's greatest expense, those with finite budgets reap more from using Java. Let's say you're throwing a dinner party for a group of 40 that unexpectedly grows to 100. Do you buy china and wash the plates between courses, or do you buy paper plates and throw them away? Java is just a better tool to do some household jobs -- and scalability and productivity are some of its major attributes.

 

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