JavaOne took place the last week of June; and as a result, a lot of Java-related news abounds. As I listened to the general sessions that took place at JavaOne, I heard repeatedly how product after product was being released to open-source - for free. (See my JavaOne daily summaries). My first reaction was, "Hey, if it's free, that's great! I'll use it." My second reaction was, "Wait a minute, how is anyone going to make money from software anymore?" When large companies like Oracle, IBM, and Sun follow the open-source trail and release their products for free, they usually start a trend. I think we can look forward to more products from more vendors being released as open-source.
Is this a bad thing? I don't think so. What these companies are saying is that software is becoming a commodity. The value software companies will provide is the support they can offer to make their (free) products work well in your organization. It used to be that a company would pay for software, and it was mostly on its own to make it work. Now, as the economics are shifting, you get the software free, but you buy a solution. You also get a partner; one who has a vested interest in making its software work for you. In the end, this will ensure more success for you, and more money for the vendor as its software gets installed on more computers (thanks to its price-tag, or lack thereof).
Java is a perfect example of a free technology that has made a lot of money for Sun, and many other companies. Nokia has proven that shipping Java free with each cell phone has increased its sales as consumers have said they choose devices with the Java logo on it over ones that do not. Both Eclipse and Apache generate revenue, but neither puts a price tag on any of their offerings. Other examples, although not directly related to Java, are Google and Yahoo. Google also heavily leverages Linux servers in its data-centers. There is a lot of innovation represented by the free products listed in this paragraph alone. Innovation leads to money-making opportunities for enterprising software companies. How are you planning to take advantage of this age of access and innovation? Let me know.
Happy coding,
-EJB
Java Platform, Standard Edition
- Java Changes its Name
- Sun Adds Real-Time Extension to Standard Java
- Sun Outlines Java Roadmap
- Sun's 64-bit Java Workstation
- Content Repository for Java
- JRules 5.1
- Enerjy Code Quality Challenge
Java Platform, Micro Edition
- Sun and NTT DoCoMo Work On Next-Generation Mobile Platform
- Nokia Contributes to Sun's Java Wireless Toolkit
- Toshiba/Vodaphone Using Java Technology
Java Platform, Enterprise Edition
- Java EE 5 Draft Released
- Leaders in Database Technology Work on EJB3.0
- Asynchronous Java Technology and XML (AJAX)
- JBoss Portal 2.0 Released
Web Services
- Java Web Service Developer Pack v1.6 Released
- Apache Axis2 v.9 Released
Tools
- Oracle JDeveloper 10g Released for Free
- Eclipse 3.1 Officially Released
- Project GlassFish - Sun Makes its Application Server Open-source
- Microsoft Releases SQL Server 2005 JDBC Driver
- Apache XMLBeans v2.0.0 Released
Events
- EclipseWorld 2005
- LinuxWorld 2005
- O'Reilly Open Source Convention
Java Changes its Name
Sun has announced that, going forward, the "2" is being dropped from Java 2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE), Java 2 Standard Edition (J2SE), and Java 2 Micro Edition. In addition, the ".0" will be dropped from the version. Beginning with their next major revisions, these technologies will be known as:
- Java Standard Edition 6 (JSE 6)
- Java Enterprise Edition 5 (JEE 5)
- Java Micro Edition (JME)
Sun Adds Real-Time Extension to Standard Java
On June 28th, Sun released an implementation of the Java real-time specification. This product is intended for high-performance real-time software systems that require predictable behavior and deterministic garbage collection. This will allow Java to be used in solutions once solved by C/C++ only, such as real-time news and financial data delivery, aircraft flight control systems, and trading systems.
Sun Outlines Java Roadmap
At JavaOne 2005, Graham Hamilton announced the roadmap of Java releases. Here is an overview:
- Java SE 6 (Mustangs) - Summer 2006
- Java SE 7 (Dolphin) - Early 2008
- Java EE 5 - no date given
Sun's 64-bit Java Workstation
Want to buy the ultimate Java development machine? Sun has announced a new line of 64-bit desktop workstations at affordable prices, with Sun's Java and Java development products pre-installed. You can specify the operating system; Solaris, Linux or Windows.
Content Repository for Java
JSR-170, a content repository API for Java, has been released for public review. The intent is to provide a standard, common, API to access the proprietary content repository offerings from various vendors. The API is flexible enough to be used with both hierarchical and non-hierarchical repositories.
JRules 5.1
ILOG JRules is a complete business rule management system (BRMS) for Java. Policy managers and developers capture business logic as business rules. With JRules, rules are easy to embed in Web, legacy and back-office applications. Developers, business users, and administrators can each manage deployed applications, and alter rules without changing any code. Version 5.1 introduces .Net support, WebSphere 6 support, and both J2SE and J2EE support, with tools to migrate from J2SE to J2EE.
Enerjy Code Quality Challenge
Enerjy Software, maker of Java code analyzer and profiler tools, is working on a product aimed at development managers to help improve the quality of Java-based software. There are currently no tools on the market to help development managers manage quality before a software system enters the test phase. The product that Enerjy is working on will tie into the tools that developers use, such as bug tracking software, source code control systems, and editors, to give the manager more detailed insight into the development process. The manager will be presented with a dashboard, which will provide analysis of the data collected during the software's development phase. More details will be released in the near future.
Sun and NTT DoCoMo Work On Next-Generation Mobile Platform
Sun and NTT DoCoMo will deliver a series of mobile data services based on Java called Project * (star). Read the press release, or read the InformationWeek article.
Nokia Contributes to Sun's Java Wireless Toolkit
Sun and Nokia have joined forces to release a beta of the new Java Wireless Toolkit. Although the toolkit enables distributed, cell phone-based, games development, it's much more than that. By offering the latest in communication and community features, the toolkit is intended to be used to enhance people's lives through new, and novel, mobile application development. Read the InformationWeek article, or see example of people's lives can be improved.
Toshiba/Vodaphone Using Java Technology
Sun and Toshiba have jointly deployed the Connected Limited Device Configuration (CLDC) Hotspot Implementation, Sun's JVM that turbo-charges applications for 3G handsets, and Sun Java Wireless Client software for Vodafone, to build next-generation services.
Java EE 5 Draft Released
The latest Java EE 5 specification have been released for public review. You can download the specs, which include the specs for EJB 3.0, JavaServer Faces 1.2, JavaServer Pages 2.1, JAXB 2.0, JAX-WS (formerly JAX-RPC) 2.0, and Java Common Annotations.
Leaders in Database Technology Work on EJB3.0
Java data persistence in the J2EE platform has proven to be a very tricky problem to solve. This has led to various third-party and open-source solutions, such as Toplink, JDO, and Hibernate. EJB 3.0 attempts to solve this problem once and for all with a new, standard, persistence model. Leaders in this area, such as those from JDO, Oracle, and Hibernate, are working together to solve the problem. You can read the EJB 3.0 specification to see the fruits of this team's labor, or this InformationWeek article for an quick overview.
Asynchronous Java Technology and XML (AJAX)
If there was one technology that received the most buzz amongst attendees at JavaOne this year, it would have to be AJAX. Applications built with AJAX look and feel just like desktop applications without using on applets, plug-ins or other browser-specific features. AJAX combines HTML, XML, CSS, and JavaScript to create a dynamic application that does not need to communicate with a Web server to update its display. Expect to see and hear a lot more about AJAX and related technologies in the near future, as companies such as IBM and Oracle build it into their Java development suites. You can read more in this InformationWeek article.
JBoss Portal 2.0 Released
As part of their JEMS software system, JBoss released the next version of their Java portlet API (JSR-168) implementation, JBoss Portal 2.0. With it, you can create reusable Web components that integrate with J2EE and Web services.
Java Web Service Developer Pack (JWSDP) v1.6 Released
Sun released a new version of the JWSDP, version 1.6, enabling Java developers to build leading-edge web services with tighter security and faster performance. JWSDP 1.6 includes the Fast Infoset web services acceleration technology (FCS), an early-access version of the Service Registry, an early-access release of the new XML Web Services Security 2.0, and updates to JAXP and XML Digital Signatures 1.0.
It's part of an entire SOA strategy that Sun announced that includes the JWSDP, new versions of Sun Java Studio Enterprise and Sun Java Studio Creator 2, the Sun Service Registry, and the open-source Sun Java Systems Application Server Platform Edition 9.0. Read more in the InformationWeek article.
Apache Axis2 v.9 Released
Apache is improving the architecture of Axis with the release of Axis2, version 0.9, available for both Java and C++ developers. This new architecture has been built to support the changes in the Web services space, and includes support for the WS-ReliableMessaging, WS-Security and WS-Addressing standards.
Oracle JDeveloper 10g Released for Free
Oracle has made JDeveloper10g available for download free of charge, although it will not make it open-source. Customers can buy the software support and maintenance for $218.90 per named user.
Eclipse 3.1 Officially Released
Eclipse 3.1, with increased performance, enhanced preferences, and a load of other new features, was released June 28th.
On July 7th, Eclipse released the latest 3.1 documentation, which includes PDF downloads.
Project GlassFish - Sun Makes its Application Server Open-source
The GlassFish Project is a gathering place for developers who wish to participate in the open source community developing of the latest version of Sun's Java System Application Server PE 9.0. Here you can learn about Java EE 5, start developing applications using the latest Java EE 5 technologies or try building and developing the server itself. The GlassFish project is an exciting new way for you to participate with Sun and the larger enterprise Java community. You can download the binaries, or the source code to build it yourself.
Microsoft Releases SQL Server 2005 JDBC Driver
Microsoft has made available a beta version of the Type 4 JDBC driver for SQL Server 2005. The driver is available free of charge, and works with both SQL Server 2000 and 2005 from any J2EE application server. You can find the driver, and more information about it, at the Microsoft site.
Apache XMLBeans v2.0.0 Released
As stated on the Apache web-site, "XMLBeans is a tool that allows you to access the full power of XML in a Java friendly way. The idea is that you can take advantage of the richness and features of XML and XML Schema and have these features mapped as naturally as possible to the equivalent Java language and typing constructs. XMLBeans uses XML Schema to compile Java interfaces and classes that you can then use to access and modify XML instance data. Using XMLBeans is similar to using any other Java interface/class, you will see things like getFoo or setFoo just as you would expect when working with Java. While a major use of XMLBeans is to access your XML instance data with strongly typed Java classes there are also API's that allow you access to the full XML infoset (XMLBeans keeps XML Infoset fidelity) as well as to allow you to reflect into the XML schema itself through an XML Schema Object model."
EclipseWorld 2005
Date: August 29-31
Place: Roosevelt Hotel, New York City
LinuxWorld 2005
Date: August 8-11
Place: Moscone Center, San Francisco, CA
O'Reilly Open Source Convention
Date: August 1-5
Place: Portland, Oregon
conferences.oreillynet.com/os2005/
