r/javascript • u/endpointben • Aug 11 '15

Netflix.com Adopts Universal JavaScript, Drops Java From Rendering Pipeline

http://www.infoq.com/news/2015/08/netflix-universal-javascript
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u/freebit Aug 11 '15

I think the biggest news here is the dropping of Java in a company that was plum full of Java developers.

7

u/dsk Aug 11 '15 edited Aug 11 '15

Did they actually drop it or did they drop it from rendering HTML but kept the service APIs Java-based? Because if they did the former, that would be idiotic. The latter makes a ton of sense.

2

u/novagenesis Aug 11 '15

Can I ask why? Our APIs are all in node.js right now and they have scaled fantastically.

Is it just "it wasn't broken, we don't fix it"? I'm assuming whatever they changed was "not good enough".

2

u/[deleted] Aug 11 '15

Why fix something that isn't broken? Especially since there is a lot of big data stuff for Java. The cost to retrain/rehire/rewrite the back end in JavaScript is pretty high.

1

u/novagenesis Aug 12 '15

I never once said to fix what's not broken. I'm just referencing "that would be idiotic" if they chose to drop Java entirely for some reason. I never implied Java was broken.

Nothing answers the question "is Netflix's Java stack broken". Are you implying that the stack can't be broken because it's Java? If it were a broken Java stack, does my comment on "that would be idiotic" not make sense?

Especially since there is a lot of big data stuff for Java.

Oh absolutely. There's also an ocean between your data warehouse and your web engine. If they're the same piece of code, perhaps your'e doing it wrong.

The cost to retrain/rehire/rewrite the back end in JavaScript is pretty high.

Absolutely. I worked at a shop that fixed a perl app that wasn't broken by picking up a Java team. It was a tremendous waste. Responses to me keep saying not to fix what's not broken, but I never said you should.