> Features that used to take months to push out in complex releases using a convoluted process of branching, meetings and tons of arguments are now delivered continually using the Github flow with little-to-no drama and far fewer production bugs/downtime.
I have a really hard time believing that Java was the culprit and Node the savior rather than the organizational stuff you mention...
It was most certainly the organizational stuff that was the main problem. But if, as the poster I replied to suggested, the small team and simply started to submit Java code instead of their Node code, that organizational stuff wouldn't have changed.
Much like a change of location can help break someone's self-destructive habits, the change of platform helped break a lot of the toxic organizational habits that had built up over the years. The shift could have been to many other platforms. And if the platform had been something other than Java, a shift to Java could have improved the situation as well. The important part was that the new mindset and practices around more frequent/frictionless development and delivery.
I do think that it's easier to have that mindset when you use Node rather than Java, but Java has gotten better in this regard over the past few years.
You're talking about an organization that has an existing infrastructure that is bad. This thread is about an organization that has an existing infrastructure that is good but not 100% optimal for NewProjectX, and whether or not it makes sense to use a a better fitting technology for NewProjectX.
I have a really hard time believing that Java was the culprit and Node the savior rather than the organizational stuff you mention...