Why moving to Java Platform is very important for startups & medium size companies
In retrospect, I had worked in a startup myself prior to joining Sun Microsystems. And i was a C++ engineer back then and use to love the C++ language. We had developed an awesome enterprise product, but unfortunately couldn't raise the money. One of the reasons was not being a Java Platform.
Oh Boy!
Now, lets talk about some axioms (self-evident statements) about the Java Platform:
1. Back to basics (Costs): Calculate work done per hour (productivity) if you have an engineer doing in C++/C vs with Java language. You will see for yourself $$$ value you can save. Down to zero costs if you chose your vendors carefully. Awesome tools coverage(NetBeans 4.1, Creator, Profilers etc...)
2. Solving production problems: I would stress more on this. Oh well, i still remember my night-outs solving production crashes and trying to reproduce in the test environment. Remember, Production Problems is directly proportional to customer costs. So try to eliminate it or minimize it as much as you can. I am not saying server-side Java Applications won't crash. But the delta you encounter is more since Java is designed for making life easier. Also there are lot of tools to solve production problems faster in Java with the help of Remote Debugging etc .
3. Market Share: Well understood in VCs circle. If you are a startup and looking for funds then better define clearly your market share. The Java Platform offers you a wide array of opportunities like Multi-OS support meaning more customers for your product, good integration story with third party vendors gives you an option to "Time To Market" in this competitive world, good internationalization story and vendor independence which very important to consider in the long run. so the list goes on ...
4. What VCs look for: Obviously money is one thing. Other things which are important for VCs are market share, innovation and company's vision to name a few. Java Platform plays a very important role in each of these cases.
5. Plethora of resources: Self-explanatory! Java Engineers, Java Tools, Java Vendors, Java Innovation and Java Ecosystem is enormous. I bet you know what this means .. more money and more opportunities!
6. Great vendor independence: By now, you already know what this means in the Java World. The next generation Java Platform (like xml and web services) is going to offer you more choices like smoother migration from one vendor to another, easy to deploy and consume the services and so the result is good ROI.
7. Bright future: Finally, I personally think there is more life for Java, its still in its youth. There is a lot of room for innovation. Keep watching the Java World, you will be amazed by the facts you will encounter in the future. So don't wait for your next train! As the saying goes, "The early bird gets its share".
The list goes on and on... But i would like to stop here and allow you to think on your decisions. Do drop a line on your own experiences. Sharing is good.
Sun = Share Knowledge, Share Experience!
