Java, PHP, Flash or Rails? Choose the right technology for your Web 2.0 job! Masoud Kamali, Sebastian Meyen

Masoud Kamali CEO, S&S Media

Sebastian Meyen CCO, S&S Media

S&S Media: Brands

S&S Media: Offices Germany – Frankfurt/Main (Headquarter) – Potsdam – Munich India – Bangalore Singapore Indonesia – Jakarta USA – San Francisco

Who are you?

Techie? Company? – Startup – SMB – Enterprise

Technology DesignBusiness

Tech Requirements Business Agility Scalability Connectivity

User 99

User 03

User 08

Technology Stacks Java Microsoft.NET PHP Perl Python Ruby / Rails

Java Java = Programming Language Java = Programming Platform Languages: Java, Groovy, JRuby, Scala, Rhino, Fan, … Compatibility Mantra – Big Emphasis on Standards

Java Strategic Open Source Sun plays a central role (but the community could also work without them) Java Friends: Oracle, SAP, IBM, HP, Red Hat, … More Java Systems: Eclipse, Netbeans, Android

Java References: All Fortune 1000 Companies worldwide

Requirement Check Business Agility: Scalability: Connectivity:

Microsoft.NET Internal Compatibility is excellent External? Microsofts Commitment to standards (but always loves its own products more than others) Multiple Language Platform: VB, C#, ASP.NET, C++, …

Microsoft.NET Always creating its own flavors – SaaS => S+S – Flash/RIA & Co. => Silverlight – Google, Salesforce, & Co. => Windows Live

Requirement Check Business Agility Scalability Connectivity

PHP Grassroot Open Source Community driven Zend plays a central role (but the community could also work without them) Dynamic Language

PHP High number of Frameworks, Tools, Components – Content Management – Blogs, Wikis – Architecture Frameworks References: Facebook, Yahoo!, Wikipedia, Sixt Car Rental, …

Requirement Check Business Agility Scalability Connectivity

Perl, Python Perl is Old School – but still providing Web 2.0 virtues Python – capable to adopt new technology paradigms Dynamic Languages

Requirement Check Business Agility Scalability Connectivity

Ruby/Rails Newcomer Dynamic Language Ingenious concept (adopted by many others) – Convention over Configuration – DRY (Dont repeat yourself) Community driven

Requirement Check Business Agility Scalability Connectivity

Job statistics

User Interfaces / RIA Ajax, JavaScript Flash, Flex Silverlight JavaFX

Ajax & JavaScript Runs (almost) everywhere JavaScript is maturing these days Frameworks, Libraries still not mature The real big Internet players love JavaScript

Flash, Flex Flash Runtime almost on every machine Mature technology Designers love flash; programmers hate it Flash combined with Flex is a real programming platform

Silverlight Microsofts new baby Mature technology? (Silverlight 2.0) Targets both: – designers (Expression) – programmers (Visual Studio) (Almost) platform independant (Firefox, Mac OS X) Impressive references: NBA, Olympics

JavaFX Sun Microsystems new baby Next Gen Java Applets Not mature yet (Previews these days) Targeting both: Designers and Programmers

More technology stuff Mashups – Ad hoc integration Web Services – Using the network – Amazon Web Services SOA – The heawy weight approach SaaS – Single Services or even application platforms

Everything in the Web is based on XML

Architecture Every technology needs to be architected Ad hoc applications: – No Flexibility – No Extensibility – No Scalability

Agility Communication between business people, designers, technologists is sometimes not easy Agile Processes – Extreme Programming – Scrum – Crystal – Feature Driven Development

Open Source Strategic vs. Grassroot Freedom (Free beer vs. Freedom of speech) Intellectual Property Wikinomics

Resources Open Source Software: Job Trends: indeed.com Tech Trends: tiobe.com Agility: are_development Wikinomics:

Questions?