Business Tech

With a project called Closure Tools, Google plans on Thursday to start helping developers who aspire to match the company's proficiency in creating Web sites and Web applications.

Google is a strong proponent of using JavaScript to write Web-based programs, part of its Web-centric ethos. Indeed, the company has pushed the language to its limits with services such as Gmail and Google Docs, and it developed its Chrome browser in part to enable JavaScript programs to run faster.

But writing, debugging, and optimizing heavy-duty JavaScript can be difficult--in part because a given JavaScript program sometimes works differently on different browsers. Google's open-source Closure Tools project is an attempt to help with some of these challenges.

The first in the suite of tools is the Closure Compiler, a software package designed to boil down a JavaScript program so it's smaller and runs faster. For example, a function named DisplayAddress() could be replaced with just a().

Along with the compiler come some extra tools that run in the Firefox browser. One, Closure Inspector, is an extension for Firefox's Firebug add-on designed to help programmers understand and debug the rewritten JavaScript--linking a() back to DisplayAddress(), for example. Another add-on for the Google Page Speed extension lets programmers see how much the compiler helped.

Google also plans to make the compiler available as a Web application hosted on its Google App Engine service.

The second element is called the Closure Library, a collection of prebuilt JavaScript code that lets programmers handle relatively sophisticated technology--arrays and string manipulation, for example.

Last are Closure Templates, more prewritten code to ease creation of JavaScript and HTML user interfaces.

In an earlier era, programming tools were expensive packages bought by a select few, but open-source software, new marketing strategies, and new business methods have made that approach the exception rather than the rule these days. Now programming tools are often a means to another end--encouraging programmers to produce the software that will make Windows or the Palm Pre useful and therefore popular, for example.

In Google's case, the objective is often to make the Web more popular because it sees more activity on the Web as corresponding directly with more activity on its revenue-generating search site. Among the high-profile projects to this end are Chrome, Chrome OS, and Android, all subsidized by Google's powerful search-advertising business.

One interesting contrast to Closure is another Google project called Google Web Toolkit. It's designed to accomplish some of the same goals as Closure, including paving over browser incompatibilities and producing high-performance JavaScript. But with GWT, coders write programs in Java that gets translated into JavaScript.

So one last question: why the name?

Google's reply: "Being a functional language, the concept of a function closure is fundamental to the JavaScript language."

(Credit: Google)

Google released an Internet Explorer plug-in Tuesday designed to let Microsoft's browser use the features and performance of Google's own Chrome browser.

The software, called Google Chrome Frame, lets IE 6, 7, or 8 use Chrome to render Web pages and execute their JavaScript programs, Google said. To use it, people must install the open-source plug-in, currently in the developer preview stage, and Web developers must insert a line of code onto their Web sites that engages Chrome Frame when a person visits the site.

"For users, installing Google Chrome Frame will allow them to seamlessly enjoy modern Web apps at blazing speeds, through the familiar interface of the version of IE that they are currently using," said Google programmer Alex Russell and product manager Mike Smith in a blog post.

But the plug-in might needle its rival more than revolutionize Web browsing. For one thing, it takes a long time to get a lot of Web developers to update their sites. For another, how many people dissatisfied with IE's performance haven't already installed a higher-powered browser?

Google argues that the feature will appeal to some folks, though, including people in corporate settings who might not have a choice of browser and people who prefer IE's interface, said spokesman Eitan Bencuya. And people are familiar with plug-ins as a way to expand what browsers can do.

"It's a much lower barrier to entry than switching browsers," Bencuya said.

He added that Google has built support for the feature into one of its own Web sites, the Google Wave project that's a hybrid of e-mail, instant messaging, and wiki collaboration.

Final approval of Oracle's $7.4 billion takeover of Sun Microsystems has just hit a snag, courtesy of European regulators.

The European Commission announced Thursday that it has launched an in-depth investigation into the proposed merger between Oracle and Sun. The agency said its preliminary probe raised concerns that the deal could threaten competition in the database market in the European Economic Area (EEA), an association composed of 30 different European countries.

That initial investigation showed that Oracle's proprietary databases and Sun's open-source MySQL compete directly in many areas of the market, so the Commission wants to address a number of issues, including Oracle's incentive to further develop MySQL as an open-source database.

Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes said in a statement: "The Commission has to examine very carefully the effects on competition in Europe when the world's leading proprietary database company proposes to take over the world's leading open source database company. In particular, the Commission has an obligation to ensure that customers would not face reduced choice or higher prices as a result of this takeover."

Pointing out the importance of databases to corporate IT systems, the Commission said that in light of the current economy, companies need cost-effective solutions. "And systems based on open-source software are increasingly emerging as viable alternatives to proprietary solutions," said Kroes. "The Commission has to ensure that such alternatives would continue to be available."

The Commission, which is the executive arm of the European Union, now has 90 working days, until January 19, 2010, to make a final decision on the merger.

Oracle had little comment except to say in a statement that the Commission had decided to "seek out more information regarding the merger by launching a Phase Two inquiry," which indicates a more in-depth follow-up to the initial probe.

The merger has already been approved by Sun stockholders and by the U.S. Justice Department.

The European Commission could delay its decision on the Sun-Oracle deal beyond Thursday's deadline to further investigate antitrust issues, reported Reuters, citing sources familiar with the situation.

Apprehensive about Oracle gaining control of Sun's widely used MySQL database, the Commission's antitrust regulators are currently debating whether to OK the deal by Thursday, the report said. If the Commission launches a full review, it could take as long as four months before a decision is reached, according to Commission rules.

The U.S. Department of Justice recently cleared the merger. But the Justice Department's concerns centered more on licensing issues with Sun's Java software than MySQL.

The companies announced in April a deal in which Oracle would acquire Sun common stock for $9.50 per share in cash, putting the value of the transaction at about $7.4 billion.

The competition has already taken advantage of the uncertainty over the Sun-Oracle deal. Key players like IBM and Hewlett-Packard have offered discounts and other incentives to lure Sun customers. They've also floated the idea that Oracle may have a tough time trying to manage a hardware manufacturer like Sun.

Sun's worldwide server sales have already been hurt, with the company capturing only 10 percent of the overall server market on sales of just $981 million for the second quarter, a drop of more than 37 percent from the year-ago quarter.

Opera Software has completed its first release candidate of Opera 10, a browser that the company says has better performance, a Turbo mode for slow Internet connections, support for a variety of Web standards such as Web fonts, and improvements to the Opera Mail feature.

"Now, we are very close to releasing the best browser in Opera's long history," Jan Standal, Opera's vice president of desktop products, said in a statement. "We hope everyone who has helped us test our browser thus far will put the release candidate through its paces."

The new Carakan JavaScript engine, which is used to run Web-based applications such as Google Docs, isn't done yet.

"It won't be ready for (Opera) 10 final, but rest assured that it will be impressive when it comes," spokesman Thomas Ford said. He said Opera won't comment on the timing of the new engine's release until it enters alpha testing.

Firefox, Safari, and Chrome also all are working furiously on better JavaScript performance too, in an effort to make the Web a better foundation for applications.

The new Opera release candidate is available for download for Windows, Mac, and Linux.

Opera has been available for years as an alternative to the dominant Microsoft Internet Explorer, the second-ranked Firefox, and Apple's Safari. It was pushed into fifth place with the arrival of Google Chrome. The Opera browser often charts new territory, though. For example, its Speed Dial feature, which presents an array of Web site thumbnails when a person opens a new browser tab, was first introduced in 2007. A similar feature can now be found in Chrome and Safari, and Firefox may add something comparable.

Mozilla has released the first alpha version of Firefox 3.6 for Windows, Mac, and Linux, a browser with speed improvements and new features the organization hopes to finalize faster than its predecessor.

"Unlike the year that passed between Firefox 3 and Firefox 3.5, we expect that this 3.6 release will be released in a small number of months," Mozilla evangelist Chris Blizzard said in a blog post Friday.

Firefox 3.6, code-named Namoroka, has a variety of changes, but it's not as dramatic a departure as 3.5 was from 3.0. Among the 3.6 features are faster JavaScript, the Web programming language Firefox executes with its TraceMonkey engine; faster page-rendering speed; some new features for CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) technology for controlling some of the look of a Web site; and a feature called the compositor that handles complicated layout circumstances better.

Performance is a big issue with browsers these days as people spend more time using them and programmers create more sophisticated sites and applications that live on the Web. All major browser makers are emphasizing performance improvements in their newest versions.

Download links for the first Firefox 3.6 alpha are at the Mozilla Developer Center.

Sun Microsystems has delivered updates to JavaFX, its platform for rich Internet application development, and to Java Platform Standard Edition.

JavaFX 1.2, launched at the JavaOne conference in San Francisco on Tuesday, adds support for Linux and OpenSolaris. The software previously worked with the Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Mac OS X operating systems only.

The Sun software, first released in December 2008, is a framework and language. It provides a unified model for developing internet applications running across different types of devices. The platform is integrated with the Java Runtime Environment (JRE), so JavaFX applications will run on any device that already supports Java. Similar offerings from other vendors include Adobe's Flash Player and Microsoft's Silverlight.

Right now, JavaFX is used to build applications for the desktop, Web browsers, mobile phones, TV set-top boxes, gaming consoles and Blu-ray players. Sun plans to tailor it to other devices as well and, at JavaOne, the company demonstrated JavaFX running on a next-generation television.

The new version includes a new cross-platform user interface library, faster start-up for applications and the Real Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP) for streaming media support, Sun said.

At the conference, Sun also launched Update 14 of the Java SE 6 platform, used to create Java programs. It now comes with support for 64-bit plug-ins, as well as support for Internet Explorer 8 browser and Windows 7. Sun said it has also made numerous performance improvements, and it has added a Java Hotspot client virtual machine with with a "Garbage First" collector that aims to improve system memory management.

Matthew Broersma of ZDNet UK reported from London.

Oracle CEO Larry Ellison wants to see Java on a lot more devices, particularly mobile phones and Netbooks. Whether or not the combined Oracle/Sun builds such devices, Ellison expects to pour more money and research into Java's development.

The tech community has been wondering what will happen to Java now that its new parent will be Oracle, courtesy of the database giant's impending $7.4 billion buyout of Sun Microsystems, which is expected to close this summer.

Larry Ellison and Scott McNealy at JavaOne

(Credit: JavaOne)

At Tuesday's JavaOne conference in San Francisco, Ellison made a surprise appearance on stage, where he spoke with Sun Chairman Scott McNealy about Java's future.

"I think you'll see us get very aggressive in developing Java apps for things like telephones and Netbooks," said Ellison. He added that he's been reading a lot about mobile devices, including those running Google's Android operating system, that make use of Java. He's looking for greater development of mobile applications using Sun's JavaFX Mobile platform, which is optimized to run on cell phones and Netbooks.

Ellison highlighted Java-based cell phones and netbooks running Android as key areas to target and hinted that Oracle/Sun may want to enter that arena directly. "I can see lots and lots of Java devices, some coming from our friends at Google," said Ellison. "But I don't see why some of those devices shouldn't come from Sun/Oracle."

Hardware makers that have already unveiled or announced phones and Netbooks based on Android include Acer, HTC, Samsung, and Sony Ericsson.

Ellison threw his full support behind Java, reminding the crowd at JavaOne that Oracle's middleware makes good use of Java. He called it an "attractive platform" because of its openness and the ability to extend it. "Everything that sits on top of our database--all our products--are Java-based," he said. He added that Oracle's whole next generation of business applications is built entirely on Java.

When asked by McNealy about the future of Java in general, Ellison said, "Sun has done a fantastic job inventing Java, expanding Java, opening up Java, giving Java to the world, and we're going to do more of the same." He noted that Oracle has invested heavily in Java in the past and believes that investment will continue and even accelerate. "We see increased investment in Java coming from the Sun/Oracle combination," he said.

The full exchange between Ellison and McNealy is available below.

Sun is to launch a Java application store, chief executive Jonathan Schwartz has revealed.

"Vector...has the potential to deliver the world's largest audience to developers and businesses leveraging Java and JavaFX," Schwartz wrote in a blog post on Monday. "Most folks don't think of Sun as a consumer company, and largely we're not, but our runtimes reach more consumers than just about any other company on earth."

When Oracle's takeover of Sun was announced in April, the companies said Java was the most important software Oracle has ever acquired.

Schwartz referred to deals Sun has had with search companies for the distribution of those companies' toolbars alongside Java updates, and noted how those deals had seen search traffic increase for Sun's partners while bringing in significant revenue for Sun.

Sun CEO Jonathan Schwartz

(Credit: Stephen Shankland/CNET)

"The revenues to Sun were...getting big enough for us to think about building a more formal business around Java's distribution power--to make it available to the entire Java community, not simply one or two search companies on yearly contracts," Schwartz said. "And that's what Project Vector is designed to deliver."

According to Schwartz, candidate applications will be submitted for Sun's approval via a "simple Web site" then presented under free or paid-for terms to the Java audience via Sun's update mechanism. Developers will bid for position on the storefront, and Sun will also charge them for distribution.

"This creates opportunity for everyone in the developer community--and specifically, for any developer (even those not using Java/JavaFX) seeking to reach beyond the browser to create a durable relationship with their customers," Schwartz said. "Remember, when apps are distributed through the Java Store, they're distributed directly to the desktop--JavaFX enables developers, businesses and content owners to bypass potentially hostile browsers."

Further details of Project Vector's business model, technology and roadmap will be made available at the JavaOne conference in San Francisco on 2 June, Schwartz said.

David Meyer of ZDNet UK reported from London.