3 ms·

This is not "why Java is better for fast things". It is not. This is "why Java is better", and the answer is "it usually is better because your programmers oft

This is not "why Java is better for fast things". It is not. This is "why Java is better", and the answer is "it usually is better because your programmers often suck".

TeeMassive 6y ago
Also because it's the one language / culture where throwing money actually scale somewhat n log n consistently.
foepys 6y ago
If programmers didn't suck, we would do everything in ASM. Since programmers are humans, we need abstractions like C or C++. Java, C#, Python, Go, Objecttive-C, and other garbage collected languages are there to make programming easier.
- jjav 6y ago
  It's not even about "programmers suck". It's about productivity. I can, and have, written high performance systems in assembly (long ago). I've written many high performance systems in C. Rarely, but sometimes, still do. But doing it in assembly takes a long time. No way to justify time to market on that one today. In C, sometimes it's worth it. But Java productivity is so much higher and (if written properly) leaves very little performance on the table. It's the sweet spot of performance vs. productivity still today and has been for about 15 years (~Java 1.4).
- sto_hristo 6y ago
  Be an amazing programmer then and go do everything in ASM, "wow" your stakeholders. But make sure you're eligible for unemployment benefits first.
- bluGill 6y ago
  These days the optimizer is so good few humans can do better over a large program. Even if they can, Intel will release a new cpu, or someone will buy amd and all your asm code is lost while those who write a compiled language just change a flag and get completely different binary.
- p0nce 6y ago
  Using assembler would be likely slower, when intrinsics are available.
patrec 6y ago
You know, hedge funds can afford to hire, and in fact in many cases do hire, good programmers. So not every financial institution that uses java does so because its programmers suck.
AshamedCaptain 6y ago
I kind of cringe everytime i hear "you don't trust your programmers to get memory allocations right" but at the same time you trust them enough to not break havoc with the wallets of your customers and the frigging entire worldwide economy.
- mnw21cam 6y ago
  wreak havoc
tester34 6y ago
Aren't HFT programmers highest paid? If they do suck, then almost everybody in the whole industry sucks

This is not "why Java is better for fast things". It is not. This is "why Java is better", and the answer is "it usually is better because your programmers often suck".

TeeMassive 6y ago

Also because it's the one language / culture where throwing money actually scale somewhat n log n consistently.

foepys 6y ago

If programmers didn't suck, we would do everything in ASM. Since programmers are humans, we need abstractions like C or C++. Java, C#, Python, Go, Objecttive-C, and other garbage collected languages are there to make programming easier.

jjav 6y ago
It's not even about "programmers suck". It's about productivity. I can, and have, written high performance systems in assembly (long ago). I've written many high performance systems in C. Rarely, but sometimes, still do. But doing it in assembly takes a long time. No way to justify time to market on that one today. In C, sometimes it's worth it. But Java productivity is so much higher and (if written properly) leaves very little performance on the table. It's the sweet spot of performance vs. productivity still today and has been for about 15 years (~Java 1.4).
sto_hristo 6y ago
Be an amazing programmer then and go do everything in ASM, "wow" your stakeholders. But make sure you're eligible for unemployment benefits first.
bluGill 6y ago
These days the optimizer is so good few humans can do better over a large program. Even if they can, Intel will release a new cpu, or someone will buy amd and all your asm code is lost while those who write a compiled language just change a flag and get completely different binary.
p0nce 6y ago
Using assembler would be likely slower, when intrinsics are available.

patrec 6y ago

You know, hedge funds can afford to hire, and in fact in many cases do hire, good programmers. So not every financial institution that uses java does so because its programmers suck.

AshamedCaptain 6y ago

I kind of cringe everytime i hear "you don't trust your programmers to get memory allocations right" but at the same time you trust them enough to not break havoc with the wallets of your customers and the frigging entire worldwide economy.

mnw21cam 6y ago
wreak havoc

tester34 6y ago

Aren't HFT programmers highest paid? If they do suck, then almost everybody in the whole industry sucks