help! advocacy resources needed fast

[A.M. Kuchling]

On Wed, 5 Mar 2003 09:56:48 -0800, 
	Geoff Gerrietts <geoff at gerrietts.net> wrote:
> So, yesterday it was sprung on us: we need to find a solution. By next
> Monday we need to have direction, because we need to have something in
> place to handle this ramp up. Even if none of the deals go through, we

<splorf> Let's decide our course  of action for the next three years
in three (oh, now two) business days?  My condolences to you...

You might also find Paul Graham's "Beating the Averages" 
(http://www.paulgraham.com/avg.html) useful.  His argument is that using a
more powerful language lets you implement features very quickly and keep up
with competitors.  Lisp is the language he argues for, but much the same
argument applies to Python.  I found it quite convincing.

Choosing the architecture without measuring anything is a bad idea, though;
if people seriously want to consider different options, they need to
research them first-hand. For example, you might build little toy versions
of your application using Webware, Quixote, and Java, and benchmark them
all.  (I assume you've profiled your existing application and know that
there's no easy way to speed it up.)

Good luck!  

--amk                                                    (www.amk.ca)
If I knew everything that was about to happen, where would the fun be?
      -- The Doctor, in "The Keeper of Traken"