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By SD Times News Team

September 15, 2006 — (Page 1 of 2)
Too often, an application or other piece of software is afflicted with what we call “creeping featureitis.” New releases of products constantly trumpet every ridiculous tweak to an application function, whether it’s just fixing what didn’t work in the first place, or adding support for the acronym of the month.

The classic example is the bloating of the word processor. We remember when a word processor was simply a text editor that could spell. Today, word-processing programs have largely unexplored feature sets that move far beyond the realm of document creation and into that of desktop publishing. That’s not necessarily a bad thing for customers, but when legacy features become less relevant to the majority of the user base with every release, that’s a sure sign of bloatware.

Bloat can be fatal when distributed applications are developed. The larger a package becomes, the less likely an end user is to install it when given a choice. Although Java’s not the most egregious offender when it comes to bloating, it’s still probably time for the community to clean out the attic.

There’s a sense among some Java leaders that it’s time to start pruning features that no longer make sense, and we applaud the suggestion that’s come forth to remove MIDI support. There was a time when that format was relevant to a broader group of users, but MP3 has proven adequate for most needs. We agree with Sun: It’s time for the core Java SE distribution to remove MIDI.

We’re thrilled to hear that there’s even a process for removing obsolete features from Java in the first place. That’s a sign of clear thinking that so often gets ignored in the rush to support one more acronym. We’re also convinced that the process is set up to make it unlikely that any treasures in the attic will get tossed out with the Denny McLain “Elvis years” baseball cards.

As Mark Reinhold, the specification lead for Java SE, pointed out, further pruning is likely to depend on the modularization of the Java platform. If Java-formerly-known-as-Mustang no longer has to package the entire—and little-used—CORBA stack for the sake of one protocol, that will be a sign that the Java community is serious about taking out the trash.

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From the Editors: Programmers against sloppy security
The editors appreciate efforts to increase awareness of software security, though they also acknowledge that there will never be a perfect solution to the problem. Also, no matter what development orthodoxy you embrace, make sure to keep your team's focus on the project at hand above all else Read More...

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