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Java Vs. Node.js: Epic Battle For Dev Mindshare

snydeq writes While it may have been unthinkable 20 years ago, Java and JavaScript are now locked in a battle of sorts for control of the programming world. InfoWorld's Peter Wayner examines where the old-school compiler-driven world of Java hold its ground and where the speed and flexibility of Node.js gives JavaScript on the server the nod. "In the history of computing, 1995 was a crazy time. First Java appeared, then close on its heels came JavaScript. The names made them seem like conjoined twins newly detached, but they couldn't be more different. One of them compiled and statically typed; the other interpreted and dynamically typed. That's only the beginning of the technical differences between these two wildly distinct languages that have since shifted onto a collision course of sorts, thanks to Node.js."

7 of 319 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Ummmm.... by master_kaos · · Score: 4, Informative

    The summary doesn't explain node.js , but node.js is a server side javascript solution
    So now you can code both backend and frontend in javascript

  2. Re:Oxymoron by MillionthMonkey · · Score: 3, Informative

    You're not supposed to do any heavy back-end work with node itself; it can handle simple database interactions and streaming etc. but anything that requires serious computation is supposed to be forked off to a separate process. Unfortunately it encourages misuse by providing a toehold for JavaScript programmers to start worming their way deeper into server processing.

  3. Re:Some misconceptions by Just+Some+Guy · · Score: 4, Informative

    Node.js is mostly event driven, but it's concurrent in the sense that it can be servicing many thousands of simultaneous requests by doing the parts that aren't currently blocked. It's not quite single threaded, though, as the blocking parts are handled in their own threads.

    --
    Dewey, what part of this looks like authorities should be involved?
  4. Re:Amateurs vs. amateurs.... by jdschulteis · · Score: 1, Informative

    Java is actually mostly back-end these days, while JavaScript is decidedly browser-only, so the whole comparison is nonsense.

    Have you not heard of Node.js? It is server-side JavaScript, built around Google's V8 execution engine.

  5. Re:Some misconceptions by Just+Some+Guy · · Score: 4, Informative

    Disclaimer: I'm not remotely a Node.js fanboy. I've used it and and chances are good that you've interacted with some of my code today, but it's definitely not my preference.

    I said that "Node.js is concurrent" because 1) the summary claims it's fast, and 2) Node.js fans who don't fully understand it seem to think it's magically fast. No, it's not particularly fast: it's just able to handle a lot of requests at once. Those are orthogonal.

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    Dewey, what part of this looks like authorities should be involved?
  6. Huh? by nitehawk214 · · Score: 3, Informative

    I use Java and Javascript every single day. Are new programmers simply not able to learn more than one language? My work is primarily on a webapp, so its the classical Java backend Javascript frontend. However if our platform was different we would be using different tools.

    What the hell they teaching kids in school these days? Back to the "Java is a hammer" days? Or is this the "outsourcing, so only one language for your entire end to end on every system"?

    But, my guess that the article is clickbait trolling, and real architects actually know to use the best tool for the job.

    --
    I'm a good cook. I'm a fantastic eater. - Steven Brust
  7. Re:Ummmm.... by tomkanka · · Score: 3, Informative

    GWT is not maintained by Google anymore. From http://www.gwtproject.org/ "GWT is used by many products at Google, including Google AdWords and Google Wallet. It's open source, completely free, and used by thousands of enthusiastic developers around the world."