Porting Java web application to Python to make it faster?

[Mark 'Kamikaze' Hughes]

Christopher Baus <christopher at baus.net>
wrote on Thu, 8 Jul 2004 00:10:18 -0700 (PDT):
>> Omit discussion on enterprise application in java or python.
> Ok, I'll bite.
> There was thread on a another list that I read like this recently. The
> difference in performance between Java and python on the web server
> probably doesn't really matter that much.  If anything I might guess that
> Java would be faster.  Tons of huge applications are run by Java servers
> everyday.  A gig of RAM on the server is nothing.  It might cost a couple
> hundred dollars. Big deal.  Certainly much less that re-writing the app in
> python.
> The performance problems will result from aggregating content from the
> sources you mention.  My guess is you'll be waiting around for the ERP to
> respond longer than it take will render the pages in either java or
> python.
> In my opinion it would be a waste of money to redo this in python.  If the
> developers are skilled in java, then go with java.  If they prefer python
> then use it instead.
> The only thing you will prove is that the app can be done in python or
> java.  If anything Java is the proven leader in this field.

  I agree.  For a living, I write Python when I can, Java most of the
time, and PHP when necessary.  For fun, I write games in Java and
Python, or work on my web site in PHP.  Performance matters quite a bit
to what I do.

  Java's startup time is awful, but its performance once it's started is
really very good.  Python starts up faster, but it's not that fast a
language.  Java uses an insane amount of memory by old-time standards,
but an equally-powerful Python program will use as much or more.

  Python's certainly more pleasant to work with, but Java
Servlets/JSP/Taglibs are the best balance of power and ease of use in
web frameworks, and JDBC handles database interaction better than
anything I've ever seen: it doesn't gloss over what the database really
does, but presents the highest-level tools possible.

  If the actual developers know Java and think it's the right tool for
the job, they're almost certainly right.

-- 
 <a href="http://kuoi.asui.uidaho.edu/~kamikaze/"> Mark Hughes </a>
"The void breathed hard on my heart, turning its illusions to ice, shattering
 them.  Was reborn, then, free to scrawl own design on this morally blank
 world.  Was Rorschach." --Alan Moore, _Watchmen #6_, "The Abyss Gazes Also"