Trouble brews as Java assailed by new blends

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Trouble brews as Java assailed by new blends

By Richard Morochove

First published April 23, 1998

Is the Java cup half full or half empty? That's on the minds of Java aficionados as they contemplate dunking their digital donuts in new brews of the programming language.

Java creator Sun Microsystems must feel like the local coffee shop when Starbucks moves in next door and Tim Horton's opens up across the street. Now, Java is appreciated by more people than ever before. But is that half-caf, skinny, mocha latté from the new shop really the same stuff as the original, 100 per cent pure Java?

Java has taken a couple of lumps from a growing popularity that threatens to splinter the language. This would make a shambles of one of Java's greatest assets, its capability to run on many different types of computers.

Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard say they like Java. However, they prefer to offer it in different blends than Sun Microsystems.

Horton's, I mean Hewlett-Packard, cracked the percolator at a recent Java conference, announcing the creation of its own JVM (Java Virtual Machine) that can run Java applets. HP's cloned version concentrates on just the programming language and does not include the class libraries and other operating system-like extensions from Sun.

A similar omission got Microsoft into hot water with Sun a few months earlier.

Sun claimed that Microsoft's implementation of Java in Internet Explorer 4.0 failed to meet its taste tests. According to Sun, IE 4.0 generated some 900 Java compatibility testing errors, 792 of which resulted from Microsoft's exclusion of a Java class.

Microsoft claimed it's simply giving consumers the brew they want, enhancing Java so it can run better on Windows-based computers. Java logo

As it turns out, U.S. District Judge Ronald Whyte recently agreed with Sun. He beaned Microsoft with a preliminary injunction that requires it to stop using the steaming Java coffee cup logo that indicates compatibility. Within 30 days Microsoft must remove all incompatible products carrying that logo from store shelves.

When you boil away the computer jargon and legal gobbledygook, Microsoft's implementation of Java destroyed the compatibility that allowed developers to create one Java application that can run on many different computer systems, whether it's Windows, Macintosh or OS/2.

Will Sun now put Hewlett-Packard through the legal grinder? It's too early to tell. According to Sun, if HP has really developed a cut-down Java, it is in violation of its licensing agreement.

It's unclear just why Hewlett-Packard decided to develop its own version of the Java Virtual Machine. Was it done to save on licensing fees? Does HP want to wrest control of Java away from rival Sun? Or is HP optimizing Java for less powerful computers?

HP's lite Java appears to require fewer computing resources, and therefore it may be better suited for handheld computers and other devices short on processing power and memory.

Java lovers must also be concerned that fewer than expected applications have been written in Java. Oracle Corp. recently conceded it dropped development of HatTrick, a suite of Java applications that had been promised for more than a year. Earlier, Corel discontinued work on a Java version of its WordPerfect Office suite.

Yet Java support grows stronger from IBM which, together with its software subsidiary Lotus Development, is Java's best advocate, aside from Sun Microsystems.

Lotus eSuite is a Java-based version of the company's SmartSuite applications. The Java version for desktop computers delivers on the most popular program features of SmartSuite. It's now bundled with some of IBM's Network Computers.

You could soon see eSuite Java applets coming to a Web page near you. Lotus eSuite DevPack lets a webmaster fold the Java applets, including a spreadsheet, word processor and charting graphics, into a Web page.

This eliminates the need for complicated CGI programming and makes it easier to add interactivity to the Web. For example, a site selling computers could allow you to select from various system components and have the spreadsheet Java applet automatically tally the cost. The charting applet could graphically show the varying prices of different system configurations.

In other good news, Sun and IBM recently unveiled a pure Java operating system, Java OS for Business. It's aimed mainly at businesses using Network Computers (NCs). Java OS for Business should be available early next year on selected models of IBM's Network Station and Sun's Javastation NCs. Both companies are looking to sign up other Java supporters. Toshiba America has already signed up to distribute the new brew.

On balance, I'd say Java's cup looks half full. Hewlett-Packard and Microsoft have invested their money and programming efforts to cream Sun's version only because they think selling Java is good business. CW

Richard Morochove, FCA, is a Toronto-based computer consultant.

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