[Zope] Zope vs. java solutions : looking forward ?

[Henk Schets]

----- Original Message -----
From: <sean.upton@uniontrib.com>
To: <henk@poppunt.be>; <zope@zope.org>
Sent: Thursday, January 11, 2001 6:04 PM
Subject: RE: [Zope] Zope vs. java solutions : looking forward ?


> Frankly, it is a lot easier to program in python; it is much more
forgiving
> in a lot of senses.  If your developers like the idea of Java because it
is
> OO, have them consider python's strong abilities, and the fact that they
> will be working with a persistent object system / ODB that can make their
OO
> code much more than a filter for relational datasets.  That said, if your
> developers like java because it runs in a VM on several platforms, Zope is
> cross-platform, and I guess Zope could be considered similar to a JVM: a
> platform for running cross-platform code.

Thanks for your answer !

Actually, I think their problem with python is that they are scared to
invest in learning it and not be able to use it for future projects.  After
reading the documentation of both Enhydra and Zope,  I am pretty sure life
would be easier for me in maintaining and expanding the site if we go for
Zope.  But I really should be able to convince them that we will not be
investing in technology that has less possibilities for the future.  Their
concern is that they want to make sure the site is save for the future.
It would be very nice if I could convince them of trying to sell Zope
solutions, but I guess it is difficult because of the hype Java gets.  I
mean, I am no match to Oracle salespeople ;-)

>
> I don't think Java is a wise direction for a small firm; at least in Zope,
> you can start off with simplicity, and graduate to bigger solutions
without
> a huge investment in lots of developers in the future.
>
> What kind of site do you have?  For e-commerce, you are going to have
heavy
> use of relational databases, but for publishing articles, you might want
to
> consider using the ODB, something you are not going to get with Java
> solutions...  I use Zope with XMLDocument and custom ZClasses for content,
> and it is a lot easier to get things done quicker that way...
>

We will never be a huge site because we have a very select public
(musicians).  But we have to provide them with a lot of content (we get
government money for that).  There is no money for full-time developers
(right now I am the only one maintaining and expanding the site), so it is
*very* important that I can quickly add pages and templates and leave the
actual writing of the content stuff to artistic people (they have no
experience in computing whatsoever).  We are using a large database (MySql),
but I understood Zope has no problem with this.

Henk

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Henk Schets [mailto:henk@poppunt.be]
> Sent: Thursday, January 11, 2001 12:58 AM
> To: zope@zope.org
> Subject: [Zope] Zope vs. java solutions : looking forward ?
>
>
> Hi,
>
> We are planning a major update of our site (i.e. building a new one).  At
> the moment our site is based on php,cgi, MySql and Apache on Linux.
> However, for the new site, we are considering other 'platforms' like Zope
or
> Enhydra.  I find Zope an elegant solution for our new site because we will
> be relying heavily on non-technical people contributing articles for
> publication.  But the problem is this : the development will be made by a
> small commercial firm (the guys who work there are friends) and they are
> biased towards a java solution because they think this will be a standard
> for the future.  They do not want to invest in learning Zope en end up in
> not being able to sell their acquired knowledge in this.  I should note
> that, at the moment, they have no experience in Java nor Python, so they
> will have to learn one or the other.
> The problem I will be facing is the maintenance of the site and adding new
> features.
> What do you guys think ?  Does Zope have a future with respect to e.g.
> Enhydra (this is Python versus Java for internet applications)?   Does
> someone have experience with both and can you comment on the learning
curve
> ?
>
>
> Thanks,
>
> Henk
>
>
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