Was just reading the faq @ http://www.refcofx.com/vscomp.htm here's what they said about Java trading platforms: "6. Your trading platform may be pretty, but is it java-based? If your forex dealer answers yes to this question, watch out! RefcoFX clients can trade without having to worry about the slow execution, freezing, and server crashes that are linked to Java-based systems during heavy trading times. In the online currency trading industry, the online trading platform used by RefcoFX is virtually unrivaled in trading volume and technical efficiency. The platform has a proven track record of reliability and stability, even during the most turbulent market conditions. The RefcoFX Trading Station is a Windows-based program rather than a server-based system. This creates a safer, faster, and more reliable platform for trading. PCs today are very powerful and RefcoFX chooses to harness that power for the sake of reliability and scalability. The RefcoFX Trading Station is not only robust, but also intuitive and user friendly. All relevant trading information is displayed in one concise dealing screen. RefcoFX feeds real time executable prices to clients, and updates P/L on all open and closed positions, account balance, risk management, and other information in real time with each price change. Traders are able to customize the RefcoFX Trading Station's user interface by changing fonts, colors, and window size and location. The RefcoFX Trading Station also provides full, real time snapshots of account statements including detailed information regarding every open position, open order, margin position and generated profit/loss per trade. There is also an integrated margin call feature, which minimizes risk by automatically closing positions if the account balance falls below the margin requirement as a result of trading losses. " Is Java truly more unstable than a windows based platform?
I think the main issue here is windows-based versus server-based. Java shouldn't be inherently more unstable. If an app is java AND server-based, yes, imo this will prolly be more unstable.
I run IB's TWS on several machines and it never crashes. Both the standalone version and the browser based version are 100% stable. Don't know about other server-based apps though.
Has anybody noticed? Refco FX platform is FXCM's software. Even their account types, instructions are the same. What's the difference between Refco and FXCM then? If Refco is simply using FXCM's services to provide FX trading to its clients, would there be any advantage in choosing REFCO over FXCM, (Refco would supposedly be more reputable than FXCM )?
All the Java apps that I've traded on were very unstable. Even the programmers that developed them admitted this issue.
If you want to see some interesting Java innovation take a look at thjs. I have never seen another display like this one for a trading platform. http://www.futuretrade.com/platform/isw.htm
Properly designed Java Applications work well under load. Properly designed Windows applications work well under load. The performance of the various trading platforms is a function of the design of the front end - the part that sits on your workstation java or windows based - and the design of the server based portions. Either environment can provide an excellent platform for applications development. Either platform can also allow badly designed, poorly tested applications into production. A lot of the processing can be offloaded to the client in either a java or a windows system- things like computing statistics, massaging data etc. You can even run a local database disconnected from the servers and only update periodically. Also the network of servers has a lot to do with performance: if all of your customers are connecting to servers ta single geographic location over non-optimised connections then those father away statistically have lower performance: ask you provider where their servers are and how they ensure optimised connections amonst their customers coming in over the internet and you will likely get either silence or rubish like " we cant devulge that". These responses are tantamount to admitting that customers are being bounced all over the world to do a transaction. The fact is that in the software business, very few companies spend sufficient time designing and more importantly testing their applications. They use the 80/20 rule and more often than not use their customer base for testing resources rather than spending the money on testing directly. Its an old joke in the software business that comapnies let their user base handle testing for them: as long as people continue to pay for stuff that does not perform this behaviour will continue. Distributed systems are also often design and implementation compromised with connection bottlenecks, routing bottlenecks etc. There are services available to help with these issues but few companies employ them due to cost .......
I don't know that much about java programming, but I've been using IB's TWS standalone version for the past couple of years. I've made thousands of trades and never once has the program crashed or done anything that I did not tell it to do.
this is a joke....i'm a senior java guy and i can tell you that between c++ and java you can design any app to be great. its the programmer, not the language. lol!!