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Did .NET Really Beat J2EE Flat? Can It?
Here's a practical look at the advantages that J2EE and .NET offer.
by Budi Kurniawan

Posted March 11, 2003

The Middleware Company (TMC), a Java training and consulting firm, published a controversial report in October 2002 that woke the J2EE community with a start. The report contained benchmark tests of J2EE vs. the Microsoft .NET Framework, and seemed to suggest that .NET was superior to J2EE. (.NET applications are faster and more scalable, they take less time to build and configure, and they require less code than J2EE apps.) It created a loud and intense outcry in the Java community, especially when some analysts pointed out that the benchmarking could have been made fairer. Rather than join the condemning crowd, I'll look at both technologies with a cold head.

The benchmarking was a great effort from TMC, but it could have been better and fairer. Initially, TMC seemed to attempt to conduct an impartial test on both platforms, but it went off-track when it contacted Microsoft but failed to approach BEA, IBM, Sun, or other players in the J2EE application server arena. It was later revealed that Microsoft funded the testing.

The public would also find out that TMC had invited experts from Microsoft to configure and tune up the .NET Framework applications used in the benchmarking, but had not felt compelled to seek advice from engineers from any J2EE application server company—for a reason that was anybody's guess. Maybe TMC thought it was the expert in the J2EE area (having published two well-respected EJB books), as it claims to be on its Web site. Unfortunately, and surprisingly enough, it didn't follow its own recommended best practices. (Find Rickard Öberg's analysis at www.dreambean.com/petstore.html.)

But let's put politics and money aside. Let's start thinking of what some considered unthinkable a short while ago. Can the .NET Framework, still in its infancy having been released only early last year, beat J2EE? For now, the answer will not be known until TMC conducts a rematch that involves both Microsoft and J2EE authorities. However, I would like to present some points to show why the J2EE community should take .NET seriously—I mean more seriously. First, take a look at what advantages J2EE has over Microsoft .NET:

• Java is a more mature and tested language and technology, with extensive libraries. It will take Microsoft years to catch up.
• Java is the easiest commercial language available (that's right, it's even easier than Visual Basic .NET).
• Many compilers and programming languages laboratories worldwide use Java, and any results from those research projects enrich the Java society directly. For example, IBM has for years done just-in-time optimizations with its Jikes JVM and compiler. Because .NET is new, Microsoft seems to be working alone in its research effort. But this will soon change.
• More Java open source projects make the cost of ownership low. Take, for example, the Tomcat Web container and the JBoss and Jonas EJB servers. These products often prove the best choices for small and budget-conscious organizations.