> of course django is still much much better than any java framework :)

I know this thread has gone off topic, but I couldn't resist :)
I've been looking a lot at enterprise offerings lately and have been
thinking about these issues. After several failed J2EE attempts, Django
has always looked very promising.

Here's what I think are the obstacles to using J2EE that usually don't
apply if you use Django:
1) Very long timeframe for development, especially the planning phase.
Not only does this increase the risk of schedule failure, but also
allows for "corporate restructuring". In almost all cases that I was
involved with, the J2EE investigation/almost-project got canned because
by the time we were ready to ramp up development, it was decided that
our customers didn't need a server-based solution so we quit early on.
Of course, a J2EE project requires a *lot* of planning, so this was
inevitable. With Django, however, you can show (production) results
very quickly - I don't think we would have had the same results.
2) Lots of initial work for minimal return. J2EE pays off a little more
after you have your initial framework in place.
3) Resistance to change. It is pretty hard to make significant changes
to a J2EE project, but is usually a breeze with Django.

Overall, I think many projects are looking at an order of magnitude
saved with planning, design, development and testing using Django
compared to J2EE.

So there is a lot going for Django over J2EE. But I think there are
still some reasons that people are considering J2EE instead of Django
(apart from legacy application support), for example:
a) Perception: still people consider that Django cannot handle high
loads, and thus not considered "enterprisable". I don't know if there
are any tests that directly compare a J2EE project with a Django
project, but I'm pretty sure the overall results are similar. There are
scalability options within Django that should work fine, as far as I
understand (e.g. separating databases when they reach a certain size).
Anyway, to improve perception of Django's capability, I think numbers
would help.
b) Distribution: most J2EE apps are pretty easy to wrap in an
InstallSheild application and can be sold as an application. This fits
a product business model (who just want to sell a product and be done
with it) rather than a service business model. Ideally, Django would be
used in a service business model, so that updates occur more frequently
and naturally, but with a little work I suppose it could be sold as an
application. If anybody has sold a Django application (as a package
instead of a service), it would be good to get some information on the
website.
c) Project development: using Django implies a different approach to
creating projects (as I suggested, probably a lot less time planning,
for starters). An example project structure on the website would
probably help explain the process a little more. Even better, a
real-life project structure, if possible!
d) Testing: J2EE developers expect that the containers they use have
passed some sort of product testing. I know Django has some unit tests,
but I'm not sure if anybody has done system testing (or if so, at what
stage in development). That would certainly help to show how far along
development is (I think people still baulk at the pre-1.0 version).
Again, numbers would help here. Analyzing, properly prioritizing and
reporting the open bugs can show how stable the tool is.

Alright, I'm done with my rant :)

 -rob


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