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When Should We Ditch Our Platform?
odoketa writes "My organization recently had to replace our Web developer. It took us an extremely long time to find someone with the necessary skill set. I don't know if this is because of the platform we are running (which I will leave nameless), or simply because the fates conspiring against us. It's easy to assume that languages or platforms are popular based on buzz, but the rubber hits the road when you have to hire someone to maintain that code. How are folks out there determining when you've backed the wrong horse, and getting back on track?"
You're joking, but sometimes it's for real. Care to try PL/SQL for that instead?
I do believe the original question was how do you know when you're off-track, rather than asking if he should drop his specific technology.
Using the shoe analogy, I'd probably say that if she shoe was comfortable, wasn't breaking down after a week of use, and people weren't openly ridiculing your choice of footwear, then your brand should be fine. If it wasn't comfortable but everything else checked out, I'd suggest a different type of shoe regardless of brand. If it was breaking down immediately, hell yes get another brand, and consider spending more than $15 bucks next time. If people are laughing, then you venture into a whole new line of questioning.
Through that whole thing, I don't need to know what brand you wear now. If I did know, I could give you better advice, but what if you were wearing a brand that might not be popular on a particular forum? You would have to separate out the BrandX-haters who make reasonable arguments from people who honestly don't care but have a low opinion of that specific brand.
Which proves the man is running a Microsoft product, because he's hiding something. Only MS can produce that level of guilt.
Do not confuse "Freedom of Choice" with "Free Will".
Hi,
As a software developer I'd like to shoot back.
First of all, I appreciate sys-admins, and would not want to do their job. But they sometimes do seem to miss a few key things about software. Where I used to work, they *refused* to let me run OS X or Linux. I even offered to pay for my own computer. This is in a large multi-national development shop, and also another time in a government department. If shares as servers are configured in a rational manner, then OS X or Linux should have no trouble talking to them, and maybe a developer may be able to to a few tricks on those systems that will save time. But no - the sys-admins just said:
+ Too hard for us to administer (yes your highness)
+ We can't run our anti-virus on your computer (ahem, I don't need that crap)
+ We can't tell if you're running unlicensed software on that computer (why don't you just like, ask me?)
+ We can't tell if you're running encryption software of packet sniffers you would-be corporate spy?
This last item is a complete joke. For some reason, a few of the sysadmins I've met aren't clued into the fact that you can get source-code and compile it into a binary and then execute it. Pretty standard stuff. Software doesn't *have* to be installed using some wizard-install-software, and never need show up on any audit. Perhaps you could scan the computer for filenames of well-known software, but that wouldn't stop someone who knew what they're doing. I asked one "top" resource if he'd let me use it anyway if I could sniff the network from a windows box without "installing" any software - he looked at me like a criminal.
Autocratic, and completely clueless.
Like all pain, suffering is a signal that something isn't right
I sympathize. However, that is hatred for J2EE, not Java. I stuck with JDK 1.1 until last year just to keep away from J2EE. However, I've found that you can safely ignore that crud, and just use core stuff. It doesn't affect startup time thanks to the classlib precompiler introduced in Java5. (In theory, you can create your own custom compiled classlib minus the crud to save memory also, but the memory isn't an issue anymore with current hardware.)
Not all Java "solutions" use XML and require that you develop EJBs. You just haven't seen the right platform for Java web development.
Although, in my opinion, you are better off hiring someone who's worked on numerous systems/languages and is willing to learn yours, than switching platforms to get someone with experience in that single platform.
To the original question; if you were planning a major rewrite anyway, that's possibly the best time to switch platforms -- treat the old one as a prototype, and build another. But you're still better off with a team of programmers who have diverse experience, and letting them agree on the platform (after suitable battles with Nerf-weaponry), rather than picking it based on popularity.
- "History shows again and again how nature points out the folly of men" -- Blue Oyster Cult, 'Godzilla'
Cost of maintenance/repair for 3 years vs. cost of new platform + app migration. Eat the support costs. Factor in the increased performance the new platform may provide. Wave hands around and shake the 8-ball.
At least, that's how I do it.
Blar.