Comment Real values vs marketing clout (Score 3, Insightful) 1216
As an avid PERL hacker (for the past 7 years), I find myself increasingly at odds against the onslaught of Java newcomers. It seems that these days, what really matters to IT directors is the "fashion" value of a language and not its real merits.
Where I work, I see this happening everyday. New projects are, by default, assigned to Java adepts even if they are relatively inexperienced or even fresh out of college/university. The whole market, here in Greece, is quickly veering towards this direction. The funny thing is, that these people quickly discover that doing productive work in Java means you have to have someone with at least a few solid years of coding behind him. So you have a large number of softcos who are looking in the market for people with 2-3 years of EJB experience and the market simply cannot supply them.
So when we scripters go to them and propose a working prototype in a few weeks (vs a few months) with object orientation, proven performance and plan for future maintenance all we get is a smile, a hint of irony and a short dismissal. No arguments, no discussion.
Makes you wonder, how these people got to be IT directors at all...
That said, it is true that scripting, with all the freedom it offers, requires discipline to write maintenable code. Java on the other hand, with it's huge APIs provides a strict framework which sort of guides you through. An inexperienced coder is bound to write better code in Java than in Perl, most probably.
And that is the crux of the thing. Experienced programmers are hard to get by and command larger paychecks. Once again a financial decision is made opposing technical considerations.
And the suits win once more.
Where I work, I see this happening everyday. New projects are, by default, assigned to Java adepts even if they are relatively inexperienced or even fresh out of college/university. The whole market, here in Greece, is quickly veering towards this direction. The funny thing is, that these people quickly discover that doing productive work in Java means you have to have someone with at least a few solid years of coding behind him. So you have a large number of softcos who are looking in the market for people with 2-3 years of EJB experience and the market simply cannot supply them.
So when we scripters go to them and propose a working prototype in a few weeks (vs a few months) with object orientation, proven performance and plan for future maintenance all we get is a smile, a hint of irony and a short dismissal. No arguments, no discussion.
Makes you wonder, how these people got to be IT directors at all...
That said, it is true that scripting, with all the freedom it offers, requires discipline to write maintenable code. Java on the other hand, with it's huge APIs provides a strict framework which sort of guides you through. An inexperienced coder is bound to write better code in Java than in Perl, most probably.
And that is the crux of the thing. Experienced programmers are hard to get by and command larger paychecks. Once again a financial decision is made opposing technical considerations.
And the suits win once more.
