RE: it's only a language
David Ray, I disagree with much of your post. I do agree with this:
<<it is easy to become overwhelmed with the promise of a new technology>>
If Java is just a language then what is Microsoft so worried about? I agree there is nothing new in the concept of run-time interpreters. Oracle Forms has used this for cross platform portability for many years and I remember p-code systems as well. Java is a language, but I think you are missing the point. Java requires a virtual machine (run-time interpreter) just like these other systems, but Sun is trying to specify a universal virtual machine. Oracle and Ryan-Mcfarland built proprietary virtual machines. Sun is trying to provide a specification for a machine that any vendor can implement for their hardware. Who build the Ryan-Mcfarland run-times? I do not know the answer, but my guess is Ryan-Mcfarland. So RM decided if your OS would support these applications. Did RM issue specifications so that companies like Borland could develop "compilers" to generate p-code for RM run-times?
With the Java virtual machine specification , anyone can implement the Java virtual machine for their hardware. The problem for Microsoft is that Sun is adding or specifying more and more services, services previously provided by the operating system. If you can get enough people to develop using Java, you will not need an operating system because the virtual machine is the operating system. This is what the NC thing is about as well as the browser wars. Netscape would love to turn their browser into your client OS.
Now, just because I believe I understand what this Java thing is about, do not assume that I think that the war is over. Most Java applications today are trivial internet applications. I agree, there are few organizations developing serious applications now. If you do a survey of fortune 500 companies I am sure you will see a high level of use, but the things they are using it for are probably internet trinkets. Java needs to mature a lot. This may end up as a foot note in computing history rather then the future of computing but, believe me, the intent of this initiative is not to be "just a language". If Java ends up as "just a language" then Sun loses big time and Microsoft remains.
Regards
Tom
ps: I trust Sun as musch as I trust MS. This is not a language, this is war. |
