No silver bullets? (was Re: Could Python supplant Java?)

[Peter Hansen]

Aahz wrote:
> 
> In article <3D642BD2.4BE73B58 at engcorp.com>,
> Peter Hansen  <peter at engcorp.com> wrote:
> >
> >That may be, but I think he's out of date.  I believe there are
> >potential silver bullets(*) these days, although the measurements are
> >still arriving so it's not possible to draw firm conclusions just
> >yet.  In fact, some of us plan to avoid drawing firm conclusions until
> >we've milked them for all they're worth, since it's a nice competitive
> >advantage for us. :)
> >
> >* Silver bullet defined as that which can deliver an order-of-magnitude
> >improvement in productivity, reliability, and simplicity, per comments
> >I saw in the linked article:
> >
> >http://www.virtualschool.edu/mon/SoftwareEngineering/BrooksNoSilverBullet.html
> 
> Enh.  If you're referring to
> http://www.virtualschool.edu/cox/AmProTTEF.html
> then I'm not so sure.  

I wasn't.  I've never seen that before.  Maybe I will read it now.

> Brad Cox talks about the glories of the
> capitalist system for regulating the manufacture of goods; while much of
> what is he says is correct, he ignores the fact the current system hides
> much of the actual costs (particularly to the environment, but also the
> human cost).  That makes his argument much less compelling to me.

Agreement.  Maybe I won't read it after all. :)

-Peter