Java facing pressures from dynamic languages

27.03.2006
Java faces encroachment from dynamic languages such as Ruby in the Web application tier, but Java can be improved and Java Virtual Machine functionality can be extended to dynamic languages, said panelists at TheServerSide Java Symposium on Saturday.

Serving on a panel session entitled, "The Future of Enterprise Java," industry dignitaries cited Java's shortcomings in the low end, Web front end tier and also questioned the viability of the Enterprise JavaBeans (EJB) object persistence technology. Enhanced development in the Web tier is critical for the Web 2.0 concept, in which the Web and the browser become more of an applications platform, panelists agreed.

"I do think that Java is in trouble on the low end," said panelist Bruce Tate. He is an independent consultant focusing on lightweight development in Java and Ruby.

"Ruby on Rails is quick and clean and that's the reason it's taking off," Tate said.

He expressed hope for simplification of Java. "That's a gaping hole in Java right now," Tate said. On the Ruby side, Tate said he is following the JRuby project, which purports to build a Ruby interpreter based on Java.

Tate suggested opening up the Java Virtual Machine to dynamic languages such as Ruby. "We can run dynamic languages that are more productive," by doing this, he said.