Pragmatic Dictator

The vast majority of server-side Java programmers have J2EE on their resumes, they pride themselves for being experts in this particular technology but there’s a problem. Many of these programmers have their minds warped into the J2EE way of thinking:

1. There is nothing beyond the database
2. POJOs focused purely on business logic
3. This is distributed programming
4. Ops is someone elses problem
5. Deploy more or bigger boxes to scale

Most enterprises can comfortably tolerate systems built this way but what if you’re not most enterprises? What if you are an eBay or a MySpace? eBay for example have thrown out almost all of J2EE and built their own libraries to tackle the problems they face around:

1. Monitoring
2. Hot Upgrades
3. Scaling

Basically once you’re beyond a certain level of challenge the J2EE way of thought and patterns of design don’t work. So where does one find Java programmers that can cope with such a challenge? They’re going to need serious knowledge of:

1. Deployment
2. Monitoring
3. Networking
4. FLP
5. SEDA
6. Threads
7. REST
8. …..

But put that on a job advert and see how many responses you get! J2EE is a raging success to be sure but if you’re a company that can’t use it you’re likely going to be a victim of that success when looking to hire server-side Java programmers.

All of this has me wondering how one should frame job adverts of this nature. Should we even bother asking for Java experience or simply drop the language/platform constraint entirely? What should we be asking for? Multi-user online game programming perhaps? What else?

Technorati Tags: distributed systems, gaming, Java, J2EE, Web

Update: I’ve added REST to the list as I suspect that it won’t fit well with existing J2EE-derived thinking.

Update 2: For an idea of MySpace’s challenges see here and here.  And then grab a copy of the slides from the Mix06 site entitled “Running a Mega-Site on Microsoft Technologies” (under Breakout, Next Generation Browsing Experience).

And I quote:

“Project Darkstar is a research effort focused on the design of massive-scale, latency-optimized systems like online games. Written entirely in the Java programming language, the server platform provides a simple but powerful interface for defining server-side application logic. It takes care of persistence, load balancing, consistency and communications, leaving developers free to focus on their applications.

As of Fall 2006 we are in the final stages of a re-design and implementation of the system. Check back here soon for new details, programming interfaces, and news about public releases. ”

There’s some pretty serious people involved in that effort one of whom I was talking to over email earlier today, sounds like they’re doing some fun stuff.

Technorati Tags: distributed systems, gaming, sun

Manny is by his own admission a “pretty pictures guy” hence his interest in web clients, Ajax, REST etc.

His first posting covers the basics of the Betfair business model which will set the scene for future tech postings and discussion of the brutal challenges Betfair faces (expect to see some serious performance numbers).

Technorati Tags: betfair, blogger, technology

Well maybe – I certainly wouldn’t run Windows on a Thumper as they have over at Johns Hopkins but the tests are interesting for a couple of reasons:

1. They represent what might well have been one of Jim Gray‘s last pieces of work.
2. There’s a headline figure of 9Ktps for an approximation of a large scale bank account processing system.

Technorati Tags: databases, performance, Benchmarking, technology

Urgh, they’re threatening to deploy the Land Warrior System in spite of the reservations of the men in the firing line.

The problems with Land Warrior are seemingly obvious:

1. Having every soldier trackable individually is simply going to overload the command and control system. We have our armies broken down into units under a hierarchical structure for a reason which is to strike a balance between overload and oversight.
2. Being able to peer around a corner without exposing oneself (because of the “clever” camera on your gun) is all very fine but consider this: your enemy is smart enough to hide until you and your buddies do expose yourselves allowing for a more effective ambush.
3. Advanced signalling breaks – hand signals are by far the best way of directing people under these extreme conditions.
4. Soldiers won’t have time to gaze at their heads up display to check on where everyone in their unit is positioned before taking action. Put simply, the enemy is not going to sit still whilst you plan out the perfect attack ["No battle plan survives contact with the enemy" - Moltke]

Perhaps more worrying is that the US military has had warnings about their excessive focus on technology previously.

This whole debacle is a classic example of what happens when those not at the sharp end invent things they think are a good idea and foist them on the hapless individuals they intend to “help”. It is a mistake repeated daily in IT projects around the world. For the enterprise this is merely serious, on the battlefield it’s quite possibly lethal.

Technorati Tags: military, technology