Slashdot Mirror
Ask Slashdot: Node.js vs. JEE/C/C++/.NET In the Enterprise?
theshowmecanuck writes "I'm working at a small- to medium-sized company that creates software for mobile devices, but came from a 'large enterprise' world before. I see node.js being used increasingly in smaller companies (including ours) or in web/mobile related software. Meanwhile we see languages like Java/JEE, C/C++, and .NET continue to be used for medium-to-large enterprise corporate software. Compared to the status quo in the enterprise (JEE/C/C++/.NET ... and yes, maybe even COBOL) maybe Slashdotters can chime in on how they see Node.js in this role. I'm thinking of things like complexity of business logic (dependencies, workflows, linear processes, etc), transaction support (for processes in general and database support), messaging services, etc. Also, what is the state of Node.js in terms of paradigms like application containers, where much of the 'plumbing' is already set up for you (one of the main benefits of JEE application containers)? But there is also the question of maintainability, deployment, and ongoing operations. What say you, Slashdot?"
When node.js goes to shit and your enterprise class software worth millions or even billions of dollars is ruined, who you gonna call? Nobody, that's who. That's why node.js isn't for enterprise use.
it's trying to be both a backend language and a HTTP server. like being both a chef and a waiter. Why would anyone want to re-implement a full fledged http server and pass through all the difficulties and ironing out bugs that commercial http servers went through ( apache/nginx ). IMHO it should just act like PHP and all other backend languages do and not try to do everything, leaving page serving to real web servers. It's just that they (joyent) are trying to sell ( "evangelize" ) their solution as better when it's not.
The short answer is: it depends. The longer answer is slightly more complex. It depends on the problem you have, the knowledge of your programmers, and the server environment you'll deploy.
If most of the developers in your house are web developers, and have extensive knowledge on JavaScript, then node seems to be a more organic solution. However as others pointed, JavaScript has been abused to code everything from databases to ray tracers, but you should keep real world performance in mind. For most tasks node (backed by Google's V8 engine) will be 2x to 10x slower than an optimized C/C++ program in the real world. You're basically trading developer performance for runtime performance.
Additionally using a dynamic language, especially modern JavaScript requires discipline. If you do not have a proper packaging or testing systems you'll run into problems. Fortunately node community already prefers doing things the modern way, so this should not be a concern for most (sane) people.
On the other hand, one should never discount the performance benefits of C++. For our latest project we converted one of the smaller, but very CPU intensive services from PHP into C++. This offered an order of magnitude performance increase (going from a minute to a few seconds). So use your common sense, and all available tools on hand depending on situation.
As for Java, and C#, you'll have a performance similar to C++ (same to 2x slow), as long as you have sufficient amount of RAM (a recent paper I read cited 6x RAM requirement for a GC to function properly). The only concern is that for C#, you'll most likely want to stick to Microsoft ecosystem (Visual Studio is a great development environment, but you'll have to deploy to Asure, whereas you have more choices with Java, including Amazon and Google Linux clouds).
The bottom line is: look at the task at hand, and the people you have to choose the tools. And do not be afraid to experiment -- especially early on in the project.
If you want something done ASAP, don't use C++.
Neither C#. You'r better go with Python.
If you want the result to be easily portable to other platforms, don't use C++.
LMFAO. Don't use C#. DO use Python, C, C++ or Java, but not C#.
If you want the code to be safe (against hacking) without much effort, don't use C++.
If you want your code to be safe, write it carefully. Learn what makes code unsafe, and don't be an ignorant.
If you want the code to be easy to maintain, don't use C++.
If you want your code to be easy to maintain, write it following sound engineering principles:
* don't optimize until you need to.
* use established patterns when they make sense.
* don't make it more complex than it needs to be.
* write as little code as possible, and as simple as possible.
So, to sum up: Don't be an ignorant, and don't use C# for portable code.