RE: Re: Resort back to RPG?

Hey Nathan (and all),

> a.  Java runs effectively under Windows.

I guess this depends on your definition of "effectively"...  If you mean
that it runs, sure it does.  But between problems with the memory stack and
the JVM, I would never want to design an application purely for Windows in
Java.  I'd rather use VB or C++.

> b.  Java middleware is designed for Windows.

This is true, but it's true only because of market necessity, not because
people really want it that way.  In this case, it is all about market share.

> c.  Better price / performance.

Price, yes.  Wintel boxes are cheaper.  Performance, not a chance.  I would
figure, especially in this group, people would've seen the benchmark tests
with regard to Java - iSeries #1, every time, even up against stripped down
Java-specific Windows and UNIX boxes.  Personally, I'd rather have a 400
running Linux in a partition any day of the week to handle all my web stuff.

> d.  Near equal stability.

This can be argued up, down, left, right, and sideways...  I'm still of the
opinion that you're never going to get a more stable platform than a 400,
but some people would rather have a cluster of 8 Windows boxes (which, by
the way, evens out the price issue), or a couple *nix machines.

> But you alluded to what may be the most important factor of all.  It's
> very difficult to create platform independent business applications.  When
> faced with a choice of whether to devote time to functional requirements
> vs. spend time on platform independence, the decision will likely be to
> work on functional requirements - on the platform that has the biggest
> market share (if you're a vendor), or the platform that you're most
> comfortable with (if you're an end-user).

I think you're absolutely right about this one.  When it comes to a product,
using platform-independence as a selling point only goes so far, so it may
not justify the time, effort, and cost of doing so.  However, for some
products, it's becoming absolutely necessary, particularly when one is
pondering the ever-emerging wireless market.

Thoughts?

- Erik
http://www.baron-inc.net