Middleware Matters

Stefan wonders why Javascript isn't used for server-side development. I often wonder the same, but not only about Javascript. Why not Jython, Python, Ruby, Tcl, Perl, and PHP as well?

Coincidentally, my latest Internet Computing column explores this very question. I explain a brief history of both middleware and website scripting (very brief, given my ~2200 word limit), and posit that middleware-ish things and script-ish things have generally not mixed because the strong focus on performance, throughput, etc. in the middleware space has resulted in disdain for scripting systems because they've been traditionally viewed as being slow.

This is changing, though, and quickly, I think. The JVM and the CLR are turning into language platforms that support scripting as well as more traditional compiled languages. Open source middleware projects like Celtix and Tuscany are getting Javascript support. Adding such support to Celtix is what I'm personally working on at the moment, in fact.

For me, it comes down to this: why write X lines of Java or C++ code when you can write X/2 or fewer lines of scripting code to accomplish the same thing?

As I mentioned in my previous post, my latest IC "Toward Integration" column, entitled "The Language Divide," attempts to explain why there's a dearth of scripting/dynamic language use in the traditional standards-based middleware space. If you wonder whether such a divide really exists, note that with some pretty questionable statements, James Gosling essentially proves my point. His viewpoint has, not surprisingly, angered and disappointed more than a few, as Ryan Tomayko explains so well.