Survey Shows Continued Developer Shift To Java
WaveMaker recently conducted a survey of WaveMaker Community members. The survey focused on how and why developers are migrating from proprietary development platforms to standards-based Java.

Here are some findings:
What Platforms Are Being Modernized?
Almost half of the developers in the survey are migrating from proprietary Microsoft platforms like MS Access (25% of responses) and MS .NET (24% of responses). Other common platforms include Oracle Forms (8%), PowerBuilder (8%) and Lotus Notes (4%).
What Are the Drivers for Migrating from Microsoft Tools to Java?
Over half of all survey respondents are moving from proprietary development platforms to Java to get better support for web development and take advantage of less expensive, open source software. One third of respondents are choosing a new development platform to get better support for cloud development.
- - Better support for web development 69%
- - Moving to open source 58%
- - Moving to Java 42%
- - Better support for cloud development 33%
Flattening the Learning Curve for Java
According to stackoverflow.com, the average time to learn the Java core is about 10 weeks for an experienced developer – that is just for the language and not for frameworks like Java EE, Spring, Hibernate and Ajax. Survey developers reported that their average time to learn Java using a visual development framework like WaveMaker was 4.4 weeks, less than half the time required to just learn the Java core.
Benefits of Visual Development Platform for Java
A visual development platform for Java such as WaveMaker can dramatically lower development costs. On average, developers reported writing 60% less code with WaveMaker than with a proprietary development platform like Visual Studio. In large part this is because WaveMaker includes a visual IDE that eliminates the need to write code to create basic, form-driven Java applications.
Developers also reported an average 50% improvement in productivity using WaveMaker and a 60% reduction in application maintenance costs. Again, this can be attributed to WaveMaker’s drag and drop IDE. Because WaveMaker generates standard Java applications, developers can switch back and forth between the WYSIWYG WaveMaker studio and a Java coding IDE like Eclipse or NetBeans.
Community Feedback Shows Benefits of Shift to Java
Survey respondents also provided detailed examples of the benefits they have gotten from using WaveMaker to migrate from proprietary platforms like MS Access and MS .NET to standards-based Java. Community member quotes include:
“WaveMaker flat out saved my job! Using WaveMaker, I built an inventory tracking application using 80% less code than I would have needed in MS Access, making me much more valuable to my employer!” – Robert Manshack, New Development, IT, Texas Department of Criminal Justice
“WaveMaker allowed me to quickly build a web-based insurance claims application that was faster and provided more functionality than the original tool – MS Access. Best of all, I did it in only 20% of the time that it took to build the original MS Access application!” – Rob Geib, Partner, MarKur Networks, LLC
“WaveMaker is awesome because it simplifies everything, and for a cheaper price than all of the expensive, hard-to-use programs like Microsoft .NET. I love it!” – Cameron Winget, Cameron Inc.
Original link: http://www.prweb.com/releases/survey-shows-continued/developer-shift-to-java/prweb4322114.htm





