Question

Java is supposed to be ‘write once, run anywhere’ and it really can be, but in some cases it turns into ‘write once, debug everywhere’.

What are the most common reasons for problems when moving a Java application from one platform to another?

What are un-common but interesting reasons?

Answer 1

• Don’t make assumptions about the case (in)sensitivity of the file system
• Don’t make assumptions about the path or directory separator
• Don’t make assumptions about the line terminator
• Don’t use the default platform encoding unless you’re really, really sure you mean to
• Don’t start ‘cmd.exe’ etc (I know, it sounds obvious – but I’ve seen it cause problems)