Skip to main content

Is Java Too Bloated

Even though I have been programming in Java for several years, I am a bit displeased with the way Java and the J2EE platform has evolved. It seems like carrying a huge burden while programming, a burden that does not add much value.
Think of the amount of things we have to know while developing J2EE applications. For building a small application developers must be familiar with:

The Java language
The core Java API
JDBC
Servlets
JSP + Tags, EL
Struts (or another MVC framework)
Hibernate (or another OR tool or EJB's)

Learning these technologies takes a long time, but after learning one also has to keep himself updated on these technologies, and we know the rapid rate at which stuff changes in the Java world.

When we make a simple web based application, beyond the source code we deal at least with 3 configuration files; web.xml, struts-config.xml, and hbm.xml, not to mention the developer needs to know about packaging a J2EE application using jar, war, ear, ... files.

All this seems like way too much work to make small to mid sized applications. Sure the technologies have value, but the effort is disproportionate to the value recieved in terms of 'programmer productivity'.

Maybe we do need all these formalisms and specifications for large distributed applications, or maybe not. I am not sure, but I am sure that we do not need them for small to mid sized applications.

If anyone has had experience developing large distributed applications in a language other than Java, like PHP, Python, or Ruby, then please share your experience with us.

Comments

Gaurav Vaish said…
And what I say is... "Unless Java graduates, .Net will kill it" :)
9:22 PM
Anonymous said…
Yes Java is trying to be everything for everyone. They have to stop the feature bloat, and focus on a distinct area.
10:59 PM
Anonymous said…
(guess the comment is a bit late :-) ) however i would like to draw a parallel between bloating of Java( from core java to what it is today) and Republic of India( from n number of princely states to what it is today). At least in case of Java one can say that a lot of planned effort has gone into its making thereby making it much more 'predictable'. Compare it to the State of india which though progressive, one would be a bit hesitant to attach the word 'predictable' to it.

And with the advent of IDEs, the pain of 'bloating' is eased a bit, as many Mundane tasks are taken care by the IDEs themselves.This is not to say that new things are not to be learned.
1:45 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Planning a User Guide - Part 3/5 - Co-ordinate the Team

Photo by  Helloquence  on  Unsplash This is the third post in a series of five posts on how to plan a user guide. In the first post , I wrote about how to conduct an audience analysis and the second post discussed how to define the overall scope of the manual. Once the overall scope of the user guide is defined, the next step is to coordinate the team that will work on creating the manual. A typical team will consist of the following roles. Many of these roles will be fulfilled by freelancers since they are one-off or intermittent work engagements. At the end of the article, I have provided a list of websites where you can find good freelancers. Creative Artist You'll need to work with a creative artist to design the cover page and any other images for the user guide. Most small to mid-sized companies don't have a dedicated creative artist on their rolls. But that's not a problem. There are several freelancing websites where you can work with great creative ar
Post a Comment
Read more

Inheritance vs. composition depending on how much is same and how much differs

I am reading the excellent Django book right now. In the 4th chapter on Django templates , there is an example of includes and inheritance in Django templates. Without going into details about Django templates, the include is very similar to composition where we can include the text of another template for evaluation. Inheritance in Django templates works in a way similar to object inheritance. Django templates can specify certain blocks which can be redefined in subtemplates. The subtemplates use the rest of the parent template as is. Now we have all learned that inheritance is used when we have a is-a relationship between classes, and composition is used when we have a contains-a relationship. This is absolutely right, but while reading about Django templates, I just realized another pattern in these relationships. This is really simple and perhaps many of you may have already have had this insight... We use inheritance when we want to allow reuse of the bulk of one object in other
3 comments
Read more

Running your own one person company

Recently there was a post on PuneTech on mom's re-entering the IT work force after a break. Two of the biggest concerns mentioned were : Coping with vast advances (changes) in the IT landscape Balancing work and family responsibilities Since I have been running a one person company for a good amount of time, I suggested that as an option. In this post I will discuss various aspects of running a one person company. Advantages: You have full control of your time. You can choose to spend as much or as little time as you would like. There is also a good chance that you will be able to decide when you want to spend that time. You get to work on something that you enjoy doing. Tremendous work satisfaction. You have the option of working from home. Disadvantages: It can take a little while for the work to get set, so you may not be able to see revenues for some time. It takes a huge amount of discipline to work without a boss, and without deadlines. You will not get the benefits (insuranc
10 comments
Read more