i saw thi rmii stuff, but like u said i don't want too many stocks in my portfolio... i m looking to cleanup some. i forgot to add to cmgi
2wks ago. i may add now..maybe... right now everytime i sell i don't go back and buy again on dips. i m just going to buy more spiders
on dips and that is the only way i can get freedom from all the work
i m doing now.
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following just for me...u don't read it, this so i can read later.
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java May Be More Than A Hill Of Beans For Sun
Date: 4/9/98
Author: Michael Tarsala
Some would say Sun Microsystems Inc. has been brewing pot after pot of hype about its Java
programming language.
But Sun Chief Executive Scott McNealy's latest plan - using Java on large central computers known as
servers - is more than just a whistling kettle. It could be a profit center for Sun and its partners, one
that Sun didn't bank on at first.
''When we launched Java, nobody was thinking about Java on the largest data warehouses,
mainframes and supercomputers in the marketplace,'' McNealy told a group of Java developers
recently. ''But those are the big, exciting new environments. . . . We think server-side Java is actually
going to be where the money is, at least in the short term.''
When Java first hit in '95, it was hailed as a way to break software titan Microsoft Corp.'s tight grip
on the operating-systems market. The programming language, circulated free of charge by Sun,
allowed software developers to write code once for programs that could run anywhere. It also
inspired grand visions of millions of Java-based devices.
But Sun was beset by complaints that programs written in Java ran sluggishly, leading to criticism
that the language could never live up to its hype. Those concerns continue as Java moves into
servers, where performance is critical.
''It's one of the biggest issues to be worked out,'' said Greg Kiessling, chief executive of KL Group Inc.,
a Toronto, Canada-based company that makes Java software. ''People can write all the Java they
want, but if they can't figure out what parts are slow, they can't optimize it for performance.''
McNealy says Sun has taken steps to boost Java's performance. And he maintains Java could be used
in a host of devices.
But even if McNealy's vision doesn't come true, Sun still has a chance to shine by marketing the
language for servers, say analysts and users of the language. Sun introduced technologies that will
make it easier for programmers to build applications for servers at its Java developers conference in
March.
Just a year ago, Java was considered great for sprucing up Web pages, but not much else. Businesses
now are starting to use Java to take care of processing transactions, taking orders and sharing key
customer data.
''Java on the server wasn't a hot topic a year ago,'' said Paul Ambrose, chief executive of WebLogic
Inc., a San Francisco-based company that makes Java development software. ''Now Java is already
happening for a lot of customers. It's not that they're ready to do it. It's already going on.''
One of the new technologies allowing that to happen is a concept called Enterprise Java Beans. This
enables Java software developers to write server-based applications quicker. What took more than a
year to write in traditional C++ programming language now can be done in three to six months with
Java, developers report.
Enterprise Java Beans allow users to separate the most common functions used in an application,
then reuse those functions in other applications. Some of the most common Beans handle money
transactions and send data messages.
Sun has licensed Enterprise Java Beans to a number of partners, the most prominent of which is
International Business Machines Corp. Several brands of Java development software from Sun
partners soon will include Beans.
Developers also can write more specific Beans, says James Chong, vice president of planning at San
Francisco-based Charles Schwab Corp. For example, an Enterprise Java Bean could be written to
execute stock transactions, he says.
That's exactly what Schwab plans to do, with the help of IBM. Within the next two to three years,
Schwab's entire infrastructure will work with Enterprise Java Beans, Chong says.
''Instead of being a guinea pig, we drove IBM to do the Java Bean implementation because we had a
need for it,'' Chong said.
Chong says the only technology that compares with Enterprise Java Beans is Microsoft's Transaction
Server. But it only works with computers that run Microsoft's Windows operating system, and Schwab
has many non-Windows computers.
There hasn't been a technology before Beans that lets programmers easily use parts of large business
applications among different platforms, says Scott Hebner, IBM's Java program director.
''The real value of Enterprise Java Beans is that it lets developers worry about business logic - not
plumbing,'' Hebner said. ''This translates into benefits for customers. It makes their technology
decisions simpler.''
IBM is perhaps the company most closely tied with Java on the server, says Ron Rappaport, an
analyst with Redwood City, Calif.-based Zona Research Inc. Rappaport says that, combined with the
fact that IBM has more customers using Java on servers than Sun, is high praise indeed.
''What does the 'B' in IBM stand for?'' Rappaport said. ''This is not a company that's swept up by
religion. It's a company that's made Java a cornerstone of its business model. Without IBM's presence,
Sun would be leading a band of midgets down the Java path.''
But even small private firms plan to carve a niche with Java on the server. Barbados-based Sanga
International Inc. last week purchased a division of CSX Corp. that developed transportation business
software. Sanga now plans to turn the applications into Enterprise Java Beans, then market them.
Still, ease of use should be one of the main reasons the technology will prosper, predicts Reed
Hornberger, director of market development for Sun's hardware division. In some instances, company
employees - not just programmers - will create applications by tying Enterprise Java Beans together,
he says.
''Very smart people who are comfortable with computers are going to be able to wire (Beans)
together,'' Hornberger said. |
