Java Brews Up New Uses
"Java is a
building
material like
hammers
and nails. "
-James
Gosling,
Sun VP
"I still
haven't
figured out
how Sun's
going to
make money
off all this."
- Tim Sloane,
analyst,
Aberdeen
Group
By Chris Stamper
ABCNEWS.com
Aug. 19 - Like many technology companies,
Sun Microsystems, maker of the popular
programming language Java, faces an uphill
battle against a dominating competitor:
Microsoft.
So Sun is looking for
ways to promote Java
beyond its traditional role as
the Internet's primary
programming language.
According to Sun
executives, Java's no longer
just the magic brew that
makes online scoreboards
flash and stock tickers
scroll. Sun is embedding the
programming language in
everything from corporate
desktops to elevators to the
Hubble Space Telescope-in short, into every part of the
technological world that Microsoft doesn't dominate.
Back to the Back Office
One place where Sun isn't ready for a fight is the home
desktop, where Intel's chips and Microsoft's Windows
operating system are dominant.
"Wintel has won and there is no competition," says Sun
vice president James Gosling, who delivered a speech this
morning at Software Development '98 in Washington, D.C.,
on "The Past, Present and Future of Java."
"The monopolist has won. Where you see more Java is in
back office applications that people use to run their
businesses."
Java's new uses build on applications that
can be run on any platform-from a PC to a
Mac to a Web server to the computer that
runs a business phone system. Gosling
compares the language to a tool found in a
handyman's garage.
"Java is a building material like hammers
and nails," he says. "It was one of the first
created around networks."
The future of Java, Gosling told the developers assembled
at the conference, is in applications much grander than tiny
Web applets.
"The biggest growth areas for Java right now are in great
big apps than run on mainframe-class machines," he says.
"Run a bank, track your packages, track stock trade or
control giant telescopes."
David Card, an analyst with the technology industry
research firm Jupiter Communications, agrees, saying that
such projects will put Sun and its allies on stronger footing in
the war with Microsoft. "More and more developers are
using it for more serious things," he says.
The Software Development '98 conference reflects the
increased interest in Java . When it started 10 years ago,
most attendees were interested in C and UNIX. Since then,
Java, which was first officially released in early 1996, has
washed over developers like a tidal wave. An International
Data Corp. study says that 750,000 Java programmers will
be needed by 2000 to meet companies' needs for the
popular language.
Java in New Pots
One of Java's new applications, according to Gosling, will
figure in the ongoing quest to merge Internet traffic and
telephone calls. Just this week Sun announced this week a
deal with DSC Communications Corp., a Texas company
that wants to use Java components in building a system that
can run both voice and data off the same network.
Another potential extension of Java is in devices like
telephones and TV set-top devices that don't require the
bulky hardware trappings of PCs, such as monitors and
keyboards. When the Internet merges with home appliances,
Gosling wants Java to be there.
"You shouldn't have to have a PC to get things off the
Net," he says. "It's a pain to get weather reports on a PC. It
doesn't fit into your life very well. You should just roll out of
bed and hit a button."
The War Goes On
Will these ambitions bear fruit? Tim Sloane, an analyst with
the Aberdeen Group, a high-tech research firm, says Java is
doing very well in back-office tasks but has not done well
with other areas. "It's a shambles on the desktop," he says.
For now, Java's reputation for buggy applets and faded
ideas (such as Netscape's failed "Javagator" browser idea)
remains intact. And as Microsoft and Sun struggle bitterly in
the courtroom over programming standards, Gosling,
naturally, blames Microsoft for Java's failure to live up to its
promise of running properly on all platforms.
"The client side (of Java) has been a real victim of the war
between Microsoft and Netscape," he says.
Analyst Sloane forecasts blue skies for Java's applications
in mainframes, preprogrammed microchips and home
devices, but acknowledges that the platform has a long way
to go on the desktop.
"It'll still be used for dancing beans on Web sites, " he
says, "but if there's going to be meaningful Java applications,
they have to fix the compatibility problems."
As the language's applications grow, Sloane adds, the
bottom line remains the critical question. "I still haven't
figured out how Sun's going to make money off all this," he
says.
Copyright (c)1998 ABCNEWS and |
