This article was originally published in print on December 3, 2003"Eclipse
represents the worst of Java"
Lately, there's been a lot of guff spouted about how Sun isn't joining
Eclipse. While I understand the bitterness aimed at Sun somewhat, I think
that this particular brand of talk is counterproductive and, dare I say it,
wrong. The talk tends to center around the concept of NetBeans and Eclipse
using common technology, and I think this is misguided, and here's why.
I really dislike Netbeans. I think it blows goats from here to Sussex, and
considering that I live in the middle of the US, that's a lot of goats. Given
the choice between NetBeans and... Notepad, I usually spend a minute
pondering whether I can keep remembering to check extensions on filenames
before realizing that I can, and I end up with sucky ol' Notepad instead of
bothering with NetBeans.
That sai... (more)
At JavaOne, Jonathan Schwartz, executive vice president of Sun's Software
Group, outlined his mission to increase the number of Java developers from 3
million to 10 million. The hope is to attract these extra seven million from
the legions of Visual Basic (VB) developers. Visual Basic's strength comes
from a tool experience that is inseparable from the language and, in order to
capture their mind share, Java needs the killer IDE.
Early Java programming books were often bundled with a copy of Visual Café,
allowing readers to concentrate on learning the language syntax instead of
... (more)
Will Linux on the desktop be the universally accepted solution of tomorrow?
Two LinuxWorld editors have recently argued either side of the issue, with
James Turner saying - with a slew of specific reasons - that Linux is
"nowhere near ready for the desktop" and Mark R. Hinkle stopping short of any
claims of universal appeal but saying nonetheless that "Linux is a solution
that can address the needs of a large portion of desktop users."
The odd thing is this: neither editor mentions the Linux-based 'Java' Desktop
System, so maybe Sun has made a basic branding error there?
... (more)
Many of the problems related to software development are at the individual
level, with those who create bad code rather than with any specific
technology issue. Therefore the goal of anyone staffing a project is to
attract employees most likely to ensure success. The infamous 1968 study by
Sackman, Erikson, and Grant, "Exploratory experimental studies comparing
online and offline programming performance," concluded that productivity
variation between good and bad developers was a factor of 10. The test was
based on how quickly their subjects could write a program to solve a maze ... (more)
I use software tools to write code because as I enter my twilight years of
technology they make my life easier.
Right now I'm a big fan of Eclipse. I don't have anything against the other
tools, it's just that I don't want to spend any money on something when a
free product does it all for me. I'm not saying Eclipse is the best tool out
there - it probably isn't, but it can't be a bad one because it seems to be
coming in the top few places in most of the IDE polls that folks throw
together.
What I'm trying to work out is why the folks at Sun don't like Eclipse.
Everyone knows th... (more)
Henry Roswell is a veteran consultant who would like to think he's seen it all, but is constantly amazed by new events every day.
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