quote:Original post by HenryApe
Suspicions are always useful when you want to discredit someone but can not actually prove them wrong.
My comments haven''t been about proving anyone wrong - they are not mutually exclusive with what else has been said. Don''t forget that I said the reasons for adopting a technology are often orthogonal to the merits of that technology. IOW, what I''m saying is not that Java fails to impart the benefits you''ve described, but that I''m not convinced those benefits are the main influencing factor in adopting Java, or necessarily that they should be. There''s no "attempt to discredit" there.
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I am pretty sure that you can not find a number of studies from reputable institutions that show C++ development to be quicker and less buggy than Java.
Maybe. Maybe not. I''m not that interested. FWIW, my experience leads me to believe that Java does impart a slight advantage in speed of development, but not "bugginess". Greater factors in those areas include the abilities of the team members, the organisational capability and the procedures surrounding the project. Perhaps the biggest issue for C++ shops is that it takes more intelligent developers to gain similar results to Java, but conversely that it allows greater freedom of expression so that such developers may achieve "better" results. Part of the *real* problem is simply that there are so few good developers around.
Another point worth making is that there are other technologies around that are better at what you are claiming Java to be good at: Python and Ruby spring to mind. Hell, if we did go with the *best* tools for the job, C++ would never have gained such a strong position, and Java sure as hell wouldn''t get a look-in.
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Yeah, and it is interesting to see how you are trying to dismiss the software metrics field as subjective because it does not agree with your beliefs.
It''s even more interesting to see how you project various beliefs onto me so that you can disagree with them. I don''t hold the beliefs you seem to think I do. FWIW, I am consistent in my skepticism of software metrics. It''s not that I don''t think there are worthwhile analyses out there, but its always difficult to assess the credibility of the source. In-house studies are often better, as they are able to take into account local factors. Generalised studies often have an "everything else being equal" subtext, and often everything else is not equal.
And while I''m on it, I might aswell point out that the most recent such study I''ve conducted on behalf of my client has concluded that they would be better off migrating to Java. Make of that what you will (although you didn''t seem to require an invitation to do just that with my earlier posts).