Jinxed by Java

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Server now a key battleground

Now, more than one year later, analysts say the server is emerging as the key battleground for platform control.

According to Giga Information Group, 56 percent of IS organizations surveyed plan to use Java for all or part of their enterprise applications.

Java backers could make some serious headway against Microsoft and Windows in driving market adoption of Java technology on the server with a component technology called Enterprise Java Beans (EJB) and lightweight Java components called servlets, analysts said.

EJB promises to provide a vendor-neutral method for building multitier business applications using one language. Proponents of EJB say the standardized application programming interface also gives big companies a guaranteed way to mix-and-match products from multiple vendors.

The big "if" is whether Java backers can set aside competitive differences and agree on real, universally supported standards, analysts said. So far, for instance, no agreement has been reached on a standard infrastructure to connect Java components.

"Java vendors have not standardized on an infrastructure to link Java Beans," said Tim Sloane, an analyst with the Aberdeen Group.

But even though Java backers may bicker over standards, Sloane does not see evidence of the same divisive forces that splintered the Unix camp.

"The cleavage of the Unix world happened when new versions of Unix appeared from the various manufacturers with undocumented APIs embedded to take advantage of each vendor's own platform," Sloane said. "So far, all of the major sets of functions introduced in Java are being introduced via a standard API, so that all vendors can implement them."

However, Sloane added, "I would not go so far as to say this string of luck will continue. I firmly believe that Java as a general application environment is still very young and very small. Every vendor in this market recognizes its fragility, so at the moment they are conscious and careful."

As David Smith, a Gartner Group analyst, sees it, Java backers are as tight as could be right now. "I can't think of two vendors closer together than Sun and IBM [on Java]. Sure, some things, like Sun's JDK [Java Development Kit version 1.2] and HotSpot [Java acceleration technology] have slipped.

"But nothing has slipped more than Windows NT 5.0," Smith added, referring to Microsoft's oft-delayed server operating system.

"As the market grows, that's when the pressure gets applied and vendors will start to break off from the [Java] pack and go their own way," said Sloane.

That split could still be several years away, he added.

That could give Microsoft enough time to regroup its Java efforts. Though publicly Microsoft executives say they plan to comply with the judge's initial ruling and any subsequent rulings, the company appears to be working on a plan to move ahead--with or without Java.

For instance, Microsoft could effectively clone Java, and offer a virtual machine-like environment for running applications built using Java, Visual Basic, C++, Cobol, and other languages.

Such a scheme could offer developers a more wide-ranging deployment option than just Java alone.

In court filings, a Microsoft executive suggesting building just such a "language-neutral Internet development platform."

Michael Toutonghi, a Microsoft developer, proposed the idea in a April 20, 1997 email message to management. "Maybe in two years' time," Toutonghi wrote, "we could have a functional API set for Internet development that rivals Java. Maybe by that time we will also have the best VM class libs for Java, VB, C++ subset, Cobol, and Smalltalk."

For now, the company plans to forge ahead on the Java front, until a final decision is handed down in the Java case. "As long as we are allowed to innovate in Java, developers will benefit," said Tom Button, director of product management for development tools at Microsoft. 

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