Scott Klarr Jr
What was ZEND thinking? Java is a terrible language!
Zend Studio Enterprise
Since i switched over to Linux as my primary operating system, I've been using Zend Studio for my web development IDE. I really enjoyed the features it has such as on-the-fly function descriptions and drop-down auto complete. But there is one HUGE issue; It is written in the pathetically inefficient language known as Java.
Why It Sucks
This program is so laggy and slow that just simply typing in a sentence can cause it to trip over itself. Quickly scrolling through a long file is a joke. The UI is completely inconsistent with standards. The memory footprint typically reaches over 600MB within 12 hours of being open, in fact it will often within the first hour be eating over 500mb of my precious RAM. Using Zend Studio is comparable to painting a Ferrari using $1 paint cans from the discount bin.
I have been putting up with its slow response and huge footprint for over a month but I am done with it now. I will now be probably using Kate editor from now on, after I completely reconfigure the code syntaxing -- whoever came up with the php syntax highlighting scheme for Kate obviously has never had to stare at php code for hours on end.
I really wish Zend would have used another programming language to write zend studio. The functionality of the program is excellent and but the actual real-world usability is in the gutter for anybody who does a lot of programming with lots of processes running on their computer.
![How Washington plows the snow. [img]](http://i.imgur.com/o8jCW.png){kind=link}
Dave Feb 17, 2008
You can write inefficient code in any language. Don't blame Java for the shortcomings of one product written using it. Blame the coders.
I use Vim for pretty much all my editing needs. It has plugins for just about any functionality you could ask for and customisable syntax highlighting.
Most of my colleagues use JEdit, DreamWeaver, Eclipse and NotePad and, of course, Vim.
kace Feb 20, 2008
Maybe you shouldn't blame Java entirely, but when you start off with all that VM overhead, you sure can't let it off the hook either!
Scott Klarr Feb 20, 2008
Kace, I'm running the app natively in linux, not through VMware. I do use vmware at the same time, sometimes, but even when I dont, zend studio still performs very poorly. Unfortunately I've had the same experience with every gui based java program or applet ive ever used - including some extremely simple apps I programmed myself with java, so my grudge against java will continue at lease when it comes to desktop apps. Server-side is a completely different story.
Joe Mar 03, 2008
I guess the folks at Eclipse must be dumb since that IDE is written mostly in Java. I use Eclipse for Java, PHP, Javascript, and HTML coding/scripting. I'm not married to any one IDE but Eclipse is pretty good especially since it's free.
Ron Mar 08, 2008
I use both VIM and Emacs.. I am probably only one of a few.
Bill Miller May 08, 2008
I totally agree with these observations about the Java programming language!It has really sucked over the years!
Maybe there are good uses for it,but to compare java to say something like c is like comparing a rolling wheel to a rolling rock:one is very efficient at what it does,the other is a waste of time :-)
raditha Jun 03, 2008
Both Netbeans and Eclipse are written in java. They are both very very fast. Blame the developers not the language.
You can write C code that runs much much slower than the slowest java code.
Nick Nov 13, 2008
I am sure this is exactly the sort of assumption that has so many people use java. So using a language just because there is a way of doing even slower stuff with another one is a good enough reason? Lets face it : Java is perfectly fit for a light app or a calculator - this has been proved by countless Fibonacci and other mathematical stuff based Benchmarks. Strangely enough, no one has spent half a year to develop a larger app in both c and java to compare them. I guess the result is so obvious to everyone that no one felt the need. People have 'just' to agree upon which obvious result it is.
dog Nov 16, 2009
I use Java for Eclipse and I use VisualStudio (written in C/C++).
I can't stand VisualStudio.. it is waaay too slow. It is also bloatware.
Eclipse is admitedly pretty high on the bloat list as well, but does things much faster than VisualStudio and much BETTER.
So it all depends on the programmer. I've also used IntelliJ IDEA and that program is clearly swift as lightning.
(Note: I'm comparing similar apps w/similar apps.. VIM and ed are not as feature rich as the apps I'm comparing here)
Unfortunately most IDEs are memory hogs.
Alex Oct 29, 2008
Java is just a hyped up POS - never works as expected and feels completely inferior to other commercial products (even MS with its .NET beats the living crap out of this pathetic language/environment)
Steve R Nov 20, 2008
Kate's default PHP Syntax Highlighting is awesome. I've used it for years, and I know several other PHP developers who use it. It has the most granularity, and a better understanding of PHP than most others (except sometimes in really REALLY long strings it breaks). I didn't go to Zend simply because it's syntax highlighting was poor with respect to Kate's.
juan Oct 27, 2009
Java is just a hyped up POS - never works as expected and feels completely inferior to other commercial products (even MS with its .NET beats the living crap out of this pathetic language/environment) ++
Both Netbeans and Eclipse are written in java. They are both very very fast. Blame the developers not the language.
Abercrombie And Fitch Feb 19, 2010
Thank you very much for your geat post,Learned a lot and saw a lot about a lot!