Related link: https://developer.java.sun.com/developer/techDocs/Newsletters/2001/nl1019.html

Here is this month’s edition of the Java Developer Connection (JDC) Newsletter, covering Early Access software releases, new products, developer programs, and more from Sun Microsystems Java group.

O’Reilly & Associates’ Executive Java Editor (books) Mike Loukides gives us his take on the current state of open source enterprise Java and the hurdles open source projects like JBoss experience. He also wonders about Sun’s current open source licensing policies regarding J2EE. I wonder too. Well, here’s a possible reason why Sun may not be backing open source J2EE implementations.

After talking with some open source advocates, intellectual property attorneys and other IT professionals who will not go on record, I believe that Sun is doing this to protect themselves and their J2EE vendors. Primarily, they’re doing it to protect themselves from their vendors or even losing their vendors. By vendors, I mean the big names who are J2EE certified, names like BEA Systems, Oracle, IBM, Sybase, Allaire, etc.

Sun’s on record saying that they would rather let their vendors lead the Java implementation process. It’s certainly more pragmatic for developers to learn and use Java in this way, and certainly more cost-effective for Sun. Sun would rather be the known as an organization for Java instead of commercial backer. However, there seems to be some disadvantages to this. For one, IBM is probably leveraging its strong position as a Java implementer by negotiating aspects to the J2EE vendor agreement which may force Sun to make it difficult on open source vendors. Other J2EE vendors may be doing the same, in order to be the lobby for Sun on all things Java.

IBM carries the most weight since it is also a partner with Microsoft (who would have thought) on backing key .NET Web services initiatives and standards, some through the W3C like SOAP and WSDL. Sun may feel compelled to give IBM certain clauses in its J2EE vendor agreement with the fear that IBM could go off and support other Micorsoft .NET initiatives and technologies such as C# as well as the CLI/CLR.

Well, this is just a theory. I certainly invite Sun and even its vendors to submit a reply to Mike’s editorial. For more, visit ONJava.com.

What do you think of this possibility? Please share your views on this here in our Talk-Back at the end of the article.

Related link: https://web.mit.edu/ocw/

MIT Opens Course Materials–The Massachusetts Institute of Technology will make available on the Web, free of charge to anyone in the world, course materials for the school’s undergraduate and graduate subjects, reports Degree.Net. This will be called MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW).

Does this set a precedent that could change the way higher education is taught and/or distributed/communicated?

Related link: https://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-7573185.html?tag=hot

InterTrust Technologies, which makes software that protects songs and videos from being illegally copied, said Thursday that it has added three patents to its lawsuit against Microsoft. The new filing alleges that Microsoft’s .NET framework as well as certain Windows XP and Office XP features violated InterTrust technology patents. Microsoft and InterTrust are already involved in a legal dispute over anti-piracy technology.

Does InterTrust have a legitimate claim? Your thoughts.

Related link: https://techupdate.zdnet.com/techupdate/stories/main/0,14179,2817428,00.html

Microsoft’s Java for SQL Server won’t win over Java developers. The plan is that Microsoft will offer a JDBC driver for accessing MS SQL Server, as originally announced September 24, 2001.

According to Gartner, “This announcement says less about JDBC support and more about the Microsoft SQL Server group’s efforts to appear as a competitive, independent alternative to Oracle and IBM.” This is given considering Oracle and IBM each offer JDBC and other Java support necessary for accessing and developing with their respective databases.

The article concludes with a Gartner recommendation …”that enterprises deploying Java-based software with (MS) SQL Server use the Microsoft-provided JDBC driver when it becomes available unless they have already committed to third-party connectivity through licensing and infrastructure agreements…”

Anyway, despite offering Java support, Microsoft remains divisive against Java, as evidenced by its efforts to push C# and, recently, J# as their Java solutions for the Windows OS and other platforms.

What are your thoughts?

Related link: https://www.internetweek.com/transformation2001/staffing.htm

Despite the economic downturn and conservative approach to technology spending, two-thirds of the 300 IT managers surveyed in InternetWeek’s fourth annual “Transformation of the Enterprise” survey said their staff has increased in size during the past two years. The areas of expertise in most demand are application development, technical support, network management and Java programming. In conjunction, salaries continue to increase as well according to the survey.

Related link: https://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/comment/0,5859,2817369,00.html

“In fact, Visual J# .NET will likely have lasting appeal only to a small subset of mainstream Java developers and will likely attract no more than 5 percent of the total Java development market through to 2004 (Source: ZDNet/Gartner).”

Do you agree or disagree with this ZDNet/Gartner commentary? Share your thoughts.

Related link: https://news.cnet.com/news/0-1003-200-7491959.html?tag=mn_hd

“Absolute anonymity breeds absolute irresponsibility… We need a thumbprint Java card in the hand of everybody in the country,” says Scott McNealy, chairman and CEO of Sun Microsystems, Inc. It’s very much possible given the already existing Java Card API and the Open Card Framework (OCF), both in the JCP. While Sun may be following the market leaders in Web services, they’re ahead of the market in embedded card and card reader software development at this point, that could facilitate a national ID system. Currently, they have strong R&D partnerships with government agencies throughout Europe as well as other foreign countries in this regard.

Do you agree with Scott McNealy on this issue? Share with us.

Related link: https://techupdate.zdnet.com/techupdate/stories/main/0,14179,2817157,00.html

Report from Gartner Symposium/ITxpo: Gartner analyst David Smith notes that although Sun won’t be a leader in Web services development, Java could have a significant role (sources: JavaWorld and ZDNet).

This is not a very bold statement on Mr. Smith’s part, given the clear momentum that Microsoft and IBM have established, mostly due to the fact that Microsoft and IBM put aside their differences in this instance. Together, Microsoft and IBM along with some others backed Web services standards like WSDL and UDDI. Sun didn’t. Sun is now outside looking in when it comes to Web services, although their efforts to incorporate Web services into Java using JAX (Java API for XML) API have not gone unnoticed.

Also, Mr. Smith goes on to say how other vendors have hyped Web services, etc. Really, this analyst is not telling us anything we didn’t already know, just based on simple observation at shows like JavaOne, XMLOne, etc. Give us more.

For more, visit ONJava.com, as well as the Web Services DevCenter and the .NET DevCenter.

What do you think?

Related link: https://www.betanews.com/article.php3?sid=1002605379

As first reported by The Register, an early preview of Microsoft’s version of Java intended to run with .NET, Visual J# .NET, was released from Microsoft. Although the 7 MB file was pulled from their download site almost as soon as it was made available, enough time elapsed for a small number of fortunate souls to get their hands on it, including our very own Brian Jepson. Now, Sun is formulating distinctions to clarify the differences between J# (J-Sharp) and Java. Didn’t we go through something similar before with C# (C-Sharp)?

Didn’t we go through something similar before with C# (C-Sharp)?

What stange bedfellows does the Pocket PC make: Compaq and Sun. Last week, Compaq, Sun as well as Insignia announced the inclusion of Java with every Ipaq Pocket PC H3800.

In fact, what does this say for Compaq’s confidence in the .NET framework as a development environment for the Ipaq Pocket PC. Well, maybe, Compaq has concerns:

With the first concern, Compaq is afraid that .NET will not bring enough developers onboard its Pocket PC platform. Compaq has seen the Gartner and other statistics concerning developer migration away from Visual Basic, C++ and other Windows programming languages toward Java. Also, more and more Java development is taking place in the wireless space. Palm OS even has Java development options for its handhelds. There’s also the fact that Java is even more widely adopted as development environments for cell phones as seen with Motorola, Nextel and more.

Compaq may also have concerns around security given recent security issues raised about .NET. For example, there was IIS and Nimbda worm virus, etc.

And finally, maybe Compaq is seeking an overall new direction based on the lackluster history of Windows CE and related embedded Windows OS and environments.

In retrospect, this is earthshaking news as Compaq, a loyal Microsoft partner up to now, might be moving away from .NET entirely. Time will tell. For more Java and .NET news, visit ONJava.com and the .NET DevCenter. Enjoy.

What do you think this will mean to the overall Microsoft-Compaq partnership? Share your thoughts with us.

Related link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/22076.html

In the “Microsoft plans Java counterpunch for .NET” article in The Register, Andrew Orlowski has received credible reports that Microsoft will shortly unveil Java support for .NET, alongside its home-brewed Java clone C#, and VB, in a project that goes under the internal name of Java.NET.

This is in addition to another Java.NET project that’s managed by Halycon Software, Inc. in San Jose, CA. Contrary to likely Microsoft Java.NET plans, Halycon’s Java.NET is open source, rumored to be backed by Borland. For more on this Java.NET, visit our Open Source .NET Directory on O’Reilly Network’s .NET DevCenter

Does Java.NET pose a threat to C#? Well, there are mixed signals coming from Redmond, certainly. Will Java developers adopt it as an interoperability solution as they migrate for Windows development? Perhaps, but it will depend on a number of things as Java.NET evolves. It will be interesting to see how this all shakes out.

What are your thoughts about Java.NET? Does it pose a threat to C#? Would current Java developers use it? Share your thoughts with us.

Related link: https://java.sun.com/features/2001/09/genome.html?frontpage-banner

Here’s an “Exploring the New Frontier: Java Technology Powers the ‘Post-Genomic’ Era” article series from java.sun.com. This is part 1 of a two-part series about Java technology in computational biology and bioinformatics. In part 1, they explore PatternHunter, from Bioinformatics Solutions Inc. Part 2 will cover biological simulation technologies from Physiome Sciences, Inc.

What are your thoughts on Java and Bioinformatics? What kinds of applications are we going to see?