Coping with Java Programming Stress

M any developers view Java as the language solution to complex software engineering problems. They expect Java programs to resist system crashes, to be written once and run everywhere, and to withstand malicious attacks. For the most part, these expectations are reasonable. Java has many attributes that promote reliable, bug-free software: memory management to prevent memory leaks, strong type checking to prevent the misuse of objects, and built-in support for exception handling. Java’s virtual machine model increases portability and its security model provides a degree of safety when importing externally developed code. All these features are a great improvement over C++, Java’s nominal predecessor. Indeed, initial experimental results show greater programmer productivity and fewer program bugs for development with Java versus C++.1 Unfortunately, however, no language is ideal, and some features of Java contribute to rather than alleviate programmer stress because they create obscure places for bugs to hide. We have identified seven features that can lead to particularly resistant bugs. Our goal is not to indict Java—we are strong supporters, and our own organizations have adopted Java as their primary programming language. Rather, we want programmers to better understand Java’s weaknesses and know how to cope with them. In some cases, the strategies we suggest can prevent the weakness from affecting implementation. In other cases, they can minimize the damage. By being aware of these pitfalls and coping mechanisms, programmers can make sure that Java’s design flaws don’t make implementation more painful than it has to be.