We were recently asked whether a vendor which uses Java should be considered to be a better choice than one which uses C, C++, or a combination of those two programming languages. We have sought to augment our own moderate knowledge on the subject with calls to some experts. The following summarizes our findings.
Java's main advantage is to the vendor of an automated library system. Java, which has been used by some vendors for as long as three years, has the advantage of being highly portable, meaning that it can be used on a very wide variety of hardware platforms without modification. Most vendors support multiple hardware platforms, especially those which sell systems to all types and sizes of libraries. [There is an exception, when the Java code has been developed using Microsoft's J++, the write once, run anywhere character of Java is lost. Microsoft is the only licensee of Java which has chosen to modify the programming language. Sun Microsystems, the licensor, has filed suit against Microsoft to require that it make no modifications which affect portability.]
C and C++ have the advantage of years of use. There are more debugging and proofing tools than for Java, and more libraries of useful functions. A programmer using these languages can use "class libraries" designed for them when searching for obscure functionality. C and C++ programs also perform faster than Java programs.
Almost no software developer uses Java exclusively, and few use C or C++ exclusively. The former is more often used when doing browser-based development; the latter is more often used for server development, especially the database server. While C and C++ are more often used than Java for the development of GUI-based (graphical user interface) workstations, Visual Basic is also widely used, especially when a system uses all Microsoft products, including not only Windows 95/98 clients, but also NT server. Vendors which use Oracle as the database management system also use a considerable amount of Java as Oracle has begun to use a number of Java tools to write their applications.
As Java matures, it may become more widely used and more critical in the evaluation of vendors. The current consensus is that a vendor's use of Java, or the extent to which it uses Java, is not a useful criterion for comparing vendors. Functionality, the attractiveness of the user interface, price, five-year cost, the financial viability of the vendor, and the reputation of the vendor's customer support program continue to be the criteria most likely to help a library make a wise choice.
