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Re: What's the best IDE to develop Java apps for Mac and Windows?



I think you need to take a closer look at some of the other disciplines before you claim that software is unique. Go ask the engineers about which CAD/CAM package is the best. which parts vendor is the best, who has the best set of test tools. Go ask graphics designers which graphics package is the best, typographers which type layout package is the best, movie editor which video package is the best. Heck, you can even go out and ask military men which gun is the best. I've seen carpenters get upset when their favorite hammer is lost or broken.

Generally, the more sophisticated the tools, the larger the investment in time in developing expertise in that tool and the effective approaches taken to solve problems using that tool. Switching tools causes loss of expertise and productivity and requires a brand new investment in time to get back to a productive level of mastery of the tool and its concepts. This is true regardless of the discipline.

Regards,
Don Bate

At 9:15 AM -1000 10/31/05, Joseph Dane wrote:
Steve Roy <email@hidden> writes:

 The longer I live in the Java world and the more I feel that Java
 developers in general are way more religious about their tools than is
 generally healthy.

I don't see how this follows from the discussion upthread, which seemed fairly cool-headed, but ...

 The same can be said about Java projects in general. The code and the
 frameworks are more important the product and the problems they solve.

I don't think you go far enough here. Certainly the MS/.Net people I know are, for the most part, as attached to their tools as Java people are to theirs. It does seem strange, doesn't it?

My gut feeling is that the nature of software development causes
anxiety in programmers, and this in turns causes them to become
inordinately attached to their tools and frameworks.  My
mechanical/civil/electrical engineering buddies don't seem to be
afflicted with this, but then they can rely on certain other things:
the tensile properties of steel, the flow capacity of a given pipe,
the speed of light, etc.  Software people have no such solid facts on
which they can depend, so they put all their faith in their tools.

I propose a new field of study: software sociology.   Who's with me?

--

joe
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--
Don Bate               | Specializing in Consulting and Mentoring in
Bate Consulting, Inc   | Object-Oriented Technologies,
                       | Software Architecture, and Software Process
(972) 618-0208 voice
(972) 618-0216 fax
email@hidden
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References: 
 >Re: What's the best IDE to develop Java apps for Mac and Windows? (From: nikolaus heger <email@hidden>)
 >Re: What's the best IDE to develop Java apps for Mac and Windows? (From: Steve Roy <email@hidden>)
 >Re: What's the best IDE to develop Java apps for Mac and Windows? (From: Joseph Dane <email@hidden>)



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