Saw an interesting article today on the future of Java and .NET given the impact of AJAX in an increasingly web enabled world.

As I am a java programmer, and now getting more involved in .net work, this got me thinking. What is the role of java and .net now? Is there a need for non web based business solutions? With business integration engines able to handle moving data around internally within an organisation and the meteoric rise of AJAX in the web environment the areas where traditional Object Orientated languages can prove useful are diminishing. Personally I am not a fan of rich client interfaces in a business environment preferring to keep the user interface simple and place as much of the business logic on the server side. Keep the data flying back and forth across the network simple and reduce the work required on the client machine is where I position myself.

Having said this I do enjoy working with AJAX sites and experimenting with what it can do, although not as far down this route as I would like to be. At the point where it becomes more invasive on a business side I hope I am ready to make the change to developing AJAX solutions, and would enjoy the experience.