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Lawrence,
here are a few points that might be worthy of your consideration. Comparing
Java and C++ from the historic standpoint, we find that Java is still a very
young language. And Java may right now be undergoing the same growing pains
that C++ has gone through at age five, which is about the age that Java is
today. Yet, the acceptance of Java has been much quicker, and the
overwhelming demand for this technology much greater, as you can see from
the following statistics of UK job offers that were posted some time last
summer on this list by Robert Hodge:
Java 8706
EJB 723 (Enterprise Javabeans [Java's server side technology (like MTS)]
C++ 8783
Perl 2514
VB 6200
MySQL 61
PHP 244
Excel 612
MTS 524
These numbers may help to make clear how Java does dominate the server
programming world already.
Lawrence, when I spoke of server-side programming, I didn't mean system
administration. I meant that kind of client/server programming by which
large applications running over a network of LANs and WANs of distributed
servers and clients are being created and maintained. Yes, Java is a
programming language in the first place, but it also provides a
standardized, built-in deployment infrastructure for the underlying
activities going on in enterprise computing, such as transaction handling,
database connectivity, host integration, and messaging. This is the main
reason for Java's tremendous success in the corporate world.
You are right that software development in Java is usually quicker than in
C++. However, quick does not mean quick and dirty, and proficient Java
programmers will receive salaries on a par with those of their C++
colleagues.
Let me be quite clear here that I do not want to demean C++ in any way. In
fact, in my consulting business which I had built up in the eighties while
teaching at the university, I have been one of the early advocates of C++ in
European industry. But if I were still in this business now, I would be an
advocate of Java which I personally have no doubt is a technology of the
future. Not the only one, but an important one.
Regards,
Michael Suesserott
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