Re: Java vs. .NET Face/Off

Walden H. Leverich wrote:

As for the whole "face off" concept. I think it's a concept loaded with
problems -- not the least of which is the $1,800 price tag. But beyond
that, I have a problem that you can show something reasonable in a day.
Can you show something? Sure. But it's going to be at about the same
50,000 foot level as you can get from a "21 days" book in your local
book store. Will it address infrastructure and architecture? Will it
address business layers? Will it address things like logging, DALs,
Hibernate and its ilk, separation of concerns, or the gang of four? What
about background services? Batch Jobs? Offline access? What are
attendees likely to get out of it other than "gee, that's neat, I can
use either of these tools"?

An interesting viewpoint, although I struggle to see the relevance. What is being presented is basically two full-day hands-on jump start sessions just like the ones presented at most of the major technical conferences in our community - many of which you yourself present at, Walden!

Jumpstart sessions specifically do exactly what you outline: you get a high level view of the tools in question, an overview of the basics of the architecture, and a whole lot of expert-guided hands-on experience. The latter is something that is you don't get from a "21 days" book, and is the reason people are willing to go to these sessions - or to conferences in general.

The goal is to show people what can be done easily with the tools, and for them to compare the two approaches in a controlled, guided environment. It's not an expert design session, or even a language overview - you can get those elsewhere, online or at Amazon as you suggest. This is something you can'[t get anywhere: a two-day, pedal-to-the-metal comparison of the two approaches designed to hopefully make it easier for you to choose the right path for your company.

And the price ain't bad. The price for the session ($1500 for early bird if you register before Friday, and roughly $750 a day) is pretty much in line with the prices charged at, for example, iSeries DevCon. Maybe a little higher - I think they charge $500 - but hey, you get me and Richard <grin>.

Joe