Sun outlines future Java standards

Sun Microsystems has outlined planned enhancements to future editions of Java for building desktop and server applications.

The company on Monday released a developer kit for Java Platform Standard Edition 6 (Java SE 6), which is due for completion in the middle of next year and code-named Mustang. Java SE 6, software for building desktop applications, will include a scripting "engine," rewritten XML software, and closer integration with Microsoft's .Net applications. Sun is considering changes to Java SE 7, code-named Dolphin, to improve administration by enhancing support for the Java Management Extensions and adding XML as a data type in the Java language. For server-side development, Sun and other Java companies have sought to ease development of the Java Enterprise Edition 5 programs. New programming interfaces are designed to speed Java development for Web applications and database access. Separately, Sun on Monday released the Java Web Services Developer Pack 1.6, which adds support for FastInfoset.