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I noticed that most banks use Java at the server-side to run the web apps. Why is that? What makes Java better than PHP, ruby, python..etc for banks or enterprises?

Thanks in advance.

FrustratedWithFormsDesigner
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gucko
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4 Answers4

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Look at it from the bank's perspective. Banks and other large non-technology firms are generally very conservative about technology choices because the penalty for doing an exceptionally bad job on some software is very large, but the reward for an exceptionally good job is not so large. In other words there's not much reward for taking risks on software development here. Therefore, it pays to stay somewhat behind the curve and stick with what's tried and true, rather than take a chance on the latest and greatest.

dsimcha
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    The explanation would explain COBOL and FORTRAN use, but not Java—isn't that a new-fangled language? – wallyk Feb 17 '10 at 21:23
  • -1 Java isn't "behind the curve" – Byron Whitlock Feb 17 '10 at 21:23
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    I wonder how many people here have made a financial transaction today that has been processed by a COBOL mainframe? ;) – FrustratedWithFormsDesigner Feb 17 '10 at 21:23
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    @Byron: Then why doesn't it have closures, properties, lambda functions, or any other nice feature popularized in the last 10 years that makes the programmer's life easier? – dsimcha Feb 17 '10 at 21:24
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    @wallyk: And who says they aren't still using COBOL and FORTRAN? Java is slowly replacing the older systems, but at a slower, low-risk pace. ;) – FrustratedWithFormsDesigner Feb 17 '10 at 21:25
  • @wallyk: Java has fallen pretty far behind the bleeding edge of languages. This is not necessarily a bad thing, as people value it for its relative simplicity and stability. It's not where you'll find the latest and greatest of language features, though. – dsimcha Feb 17 '10 at 21:26
  • While the Java language may be a bit stale, Java has never been about the language itself. It's all about the libraries. Inversion of control, web based MVC , dependency injection were popularized by Java. – Byron Whitlock Feb 17 '10 at 21:33
  • @dsimcha, new languages arise running on the JVM. No need to worry. IBM endorses Java on their midrange, mainframe systems -> it will live at least as long as COBOL. – Thorbjørn Ravn Andersen Feb 17 '10 at 21:38
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    Java (as a platform) has all the latest features in language development. They're just not implemented in the Java Language. You can use Groovy, Scala, Ruby, Python, JavaScript and more from within a Java program quite easily, so there's little need for the Java Language itself to progress into the bleeding edge. – nicerobot Feb 17 '10 at 22:51
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Enterprise solutions and support.

Anton Kazennikov
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4

Nobody ever got fired for choosing Java

Daniel Vassallo
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If this statement is true then it is because of the following:

In the late 1990s and early 2000s web development had just a few choices: 1. ASP 2. CGI 3. JSP (for example)

PHP was not what it is today. ASP was not capable of scaling to multiple servers and CGI was time consuming so allot of companies went to Java. I suspect that is the reason being the most online banking occured during this time.

year 2000 was Sun's most successful year.

John Topley
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Todd Moses
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