Will Java become obsolete because of the ROR?

Four years ago, when I started preaching hibernate and attacking EJBs, it was accusation, but less than a year later, Hibernate was popular and accepted by most Java developers.

Three years ago, when I started praising Spring, Spring was also faced with EJB3 and EJB2 's accusations of not being presentable, but in less than a year, spring has become the preferred choice for most Java developers.

Two years ago, I strongly hope to publicize webwork, sing down JSF, to this day, webwork to Struts2.0 identity, and JSF still rely on vendors die.

And when I started using ROR to develop Javaeye a year ago, Ror's skepticism was rife, but when I predicted at the beginning of this year that ROR would be widely accepted at home in the second half of 07, many people were already laughing.

What do I predict this year? I think it's time for Ajax to get out of the PC, the evidence is the iphone, and the thing associated with it is the popularity of rest architecture.

But what I want to talk about in this article is not that I predicted the level of inaccurate, but want to talk about Java really because of the popularity of ror and outdated it? Currently in the Web development is mainly used in two major areas, the Internet and enterprise applications, we look at:

　　I. The field of the Internet

The first big dynamic language in the Internet field is PHP, the second and third are ASP and Java respectively. In the small and medium sized Internet application, PHP's king position cannot waver, but in the large-scale application, Java is the current mainstream choice, especially the electronic commerce type application, for example Alibaba transforms from the early PHP to the Java, the former eachnet also so. There is no reason for this situation:

1, small and medium Internet sites emphasize development speed, maintenance costs, as well as the introduction of rapid and deployment costs, PHP is the most appropriate choice; Java is too clumsy, slow development, high maintenance costs, a long entry cycle, the deployment of trouble; ROR development speed is the fastest, maintenance cost is lowest, but ror start speed without PHP fast, deployment cost is higher than PHP. So the mainstream of small and medium-sized Internet sites or PHP, but Ror can occupy a certain share.

2, large and medium-sized Internet stations to emphasize stability, performance, large-scale code organization capabilities, and development efficiency is relegated to the secondary position, some applications such as E-commerce on the transaction has a high demand, it is clear that Java is the most appropriate choice; PHP has the worst code organization, ROR second.

In the Internet domain, Java has never been mainstream, and Java's application domain and ROR not too coincide. We can even say that Ror is now in the Internet domain instead of those who were not suitable for Java, but was mistakenly selected Java projects.

　　Second, the Enterprise Application field

At present, the first major language in Enterprise Application field is java,dotnet second. Enterprise application technology and industry have a lot of relationship: for example, the financial industry, e-government industry generally only use Java. Dotnet has not entered the high-end application of the enterprise for more than 6 years, ROR is difficult to replace the position of Java in the short term.

In the enterprise application domain, Java is the mainstream, and Java application domain and ROR also not too coincide. We can also say that ROR will be in the future in enterprise applications to replace those who are not suitable for Java, but the wrong choice of Java projects.

At this point, I think Java programmers can breathe a sigh of relief, ror what is currently not suitable for the occasion:

　　1, for the very high demand for business occasions

Ror is also a very simple single database transaction control, which lacks fine transaction control functions, and certainly does not support distributed transactions across databases. Therefore, the deployment of complex distributed database scenarios is inadequate for large e-commerce sites that require strict transaction requirements. Of course, some plugin can provide these features, but from the current level of functionality and maturity, it is not enough.

　　2, processing a large number of legacy database occasions

ActiveRecord's power is largely due to the Convention, and a large number of poorly named legacy databases can pose a big obstacle to ror.

　　3, a large project team, the development of low speed requirements of the occasion

For example, Japan's outsourcing projects, a large team, the pace of individual development requirements low. However, for code specifications that require strict projects.

While ROR will not replace Java, it does not mean that you can stand still as a programmer. Even if you don't use ROR in your work, a little more new technology is good for broadening your personal horizons.

　　Note: ROR is the abbreviation for Ruby on Rails. Ruby on Rails is a framework for writing Web applications, based on the computer software language Ruby, which provides powerful framework support to program developers. Ruby on Rails consists of two parts: the Ruby language and the rails framework.