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Poll results: Developers sound off on servlets
Find out why and how people are using servlets -- 6+ key benefits (and a few concerns) detailed!
Servlets have been getting a lot of press lately (including the two cover stories in this month's JavaWorld). But how are developers really using servlets, and why are they employing servlets instead of some other technology? That's the question in this month's poll.The responses have been overwhelmingly positive toward servlets. JavaWorld readers use servlets for everything from simple file serving to acting as the brains of their Web application. And they choose servlets over alternative approaches for quite a variety of reasons.
Let's look at the results.
The numbers
More than 600 JavaWorld readers responded to the poll question, "Why do you use servlets?" Here's a look at the actual voter breakdown:
- 38% said As a Web-based application
- 21% said To replace CGI
- 17% said To access a database
- 13% said I don't use servlets
- 4% said To serve HTML pages
- 3% said Other
- 0% said To generate images
Whoa! Is it true that only 4 percent of developers use servlets to generate HTML? Probably not. These numbers can be misleading, unless you keep in mind (as the page indicated) that readers could choose only one item from the list, even if they use servlets for several tasks. In the comments section, many readers indicated that they use servlets for multiple tasks.
You needed an "All of the above" option. I use servlets to serve HTML, replace CGI, access databases, to create Web-based applications, and to generate images.
Hey, I use them for more than one thing! To replace cgi, to serve pages, to access databases, as Web based-applications and other (I define servlets which handles other protocols than http, like POP3 and FTP). I use servlets on the client machine (in proxy servers). I think this is a very limited survey!
Why do I have to choose only one of the uses for servlets? I use servlets to access databases and to serve html pages, and thereby they have completely replaced the use of CGI programs in my company. Why do I use servlets? The answer to this question is easy: It's easy - if already know Java, writing a servlet is not difficult. All communications problems have already been taken care of, so you only have to worry about what the servlet should do, and not about how it should return it to the client. Because it is so easy to write a servlet, it is of course also a fast way of developing, which is excellent. tw e-mail: bex@forum.dk
Well that's a stupid survey. Making people click only one checkbox is ridiculous. I use servlets for all of those things (and more), and most people are going to want to generate HTML *and* replace CGI, and of course it's a Web-based app for more folks. Come on, put a bit more work into writing this survey, at the moment it looks like a joke!
Turns out the software (a CGI program) used for tabulating poll results limits voters to one item. Rumor has it a future version (built using servlets) won't have this limitation. In the meantime, JavaWorld will redouble its efforts to ask questions that work better within the software's limitations -- and continue to encourage readers to use the comments section to detail their opinions (which, after all, usually offer information that's more valuable than mere numbers or pie charts).
