.Net: Look Before You Leap

By Matt Puccini

June 4, 2003 12:00 PM ET

Computerworld - Microsoft has a lot riding on Windows Server 2003, the latest upgrade to its flagship software for managing computer networks. Will it work for large enterprises, where Microsoft hopes to finally compete with IBM? Redmond certainly thinks so.
Should developers with years invested in writing Windows-based code blindly commit to .Net? Definitely not, because .Net is inferior to Java 2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE) for Web application development.
There's no doubt that Microsoft has built a good relationship with the technical community. However, the company's greatest challenge to date is the dramatic shift from client/server computing to the Web. Microsoft is rolling out .Net in response to the explosion in Web development and J2EE, but unfortunately, it's two years late. But by sheer market force and its enormous installed base, Microsoft is trying to jump in and grab a greater chunk of customers' IT budgets.


	Matt Puccini is a 19-year technology industry veteran and currently the president of Espressiv Inc. in Cambridge, Mass.

As companies use the Web to integrate internal systems with the outside world, chief technology officers are deciding whether to depend on Windows as the development platform or to evaluate open systems. Some IT decisions make perfect sense -- moving from DOS to Windows, for example. But for those who think that .Net is a better, easier platform than client/server, think again.

It's common knowledge among developers I know that .Net is a complex migration from client/server, that it's not as scalable, and that Java is a much more open development environment. But another big issue is .Net's weak middle tier -- the crucial piece to the Web development platform puzzle. The middle tier has the single greatest impact on simplicity, productivity and application flexibility.

The Web was originally designed to link documents via HTTP. For more complex integration, it's necessary for back-end systems, such as applications and databases, to be connected to the browser via the middle tier of software. A smart middle tier makes it possible to build workflows that remember where you are within the business process -- such as a special approval within a loan application flow -- and make that happen automatically and effortlessly.

What separates J2EE from .Net is the maturity of that middle tier. Microsoft's .Net doesn't do much beyond connecting information -- basically where J2EE was years ago. For small-scale systems, it doesn't matter. But as applications grow in size and complexity, .Net's lack of a solid middle tier puts the burden on programmers, because it's cumbersome and time-consuming to

Recommend Digg Twitter ShareThis

Email Print Send Feedback Reprints

Additional Resources

Xerox

Win a color printer!

By using solid ink technology only from Xerox, you could save up to 65% by printing color for the cost of black and white. Enter for a chance to WIN a PhaserTM 8860 network color printer!

Microsoft

Upgrade to Internet Explorer 8 today.

Save time and mitigate security risk. Deploy it now.

Sybase

NEXT-GENERATION MOBILITY PLATFORMS

In this white paper, IDC analyzes the role of next-generation mobile enterprise platforms as organizations seek a more strategic deployment of mobile solutions.

Learn the important issues you must consider before starting your next mobility initiative. Get your mobility white paper from IDC now, compliments of Sybase.

White Papers & Webcasts

The High Performance Workplace
In this paper we examine the challenges and define the critical steps CFOs, CIOs, COOs and CEOs, in midsized global companies, can take...

How to Reduce Eclipse BIRT Development Effort for Data Visualizations
Web applications can come with a long list of visualization requirements for structured data. By delivering your output through the BIRT Interactive Viewer,...

Extend, Replace, or Convert; which is the best way forward for COBOL Applications?
There are a number of choices when looking at ways to take existing COBOL applications forward. This white paper discusses the most common...

Usability Is Everything
Learn what sets Workday's HR and Payroll solutions apart from the competition....

Sustaining SOX Compliance: Best Practices to Mitigate Risk, Automate Compliance, and Reduce Costs
Since the adoption of SOX, much has been learned about IT compliance. Discover how to make SOX efforts more effective in "Sustaining Sox...

The Value of Real SaaS at Workday
Cost savings, speed to value, and innovation brought to the enterprise by Workday's software-as-a-service solutions for HR and Payroll....

IDC White Paper: CCM for IT Compliance and Risk Management
Learn from industry analysts how IT organizations are using configuration management to meet compliance requirements and instill best practices. Find out how these...

SaaS at Flextronics, Inc.
Dave Smoley, CIO of Flextronics, discusses the real value of software-as-a-service and why he chose Workday for his HR solution....

Keep it Clean: Maintaining the Integrity of your CMDB through Change Detection
Learn how configuration drift can challenge configuration management database (CMDB) integrity and how a configuration audit tool and an effective change management process...

Why Compliance Pays
This OnDemand webcast explores the relationship that firms with best compliance records have higher revenue, greater customer retention, lower financial losses from data...

All White Papers | All Webcasts