Keeping you abreast of the ever-changing Java world
Index of news briefs
Better Java-based charts and graphs
Borland announces Java-enabled Interbase SQL Database Server
Free tool runs Java VM for Web servers
HDS Network Systems introduces second-generation network computers
IBM bridges incompatibilities with Java
Java Center slated for Singapore
Java Enterprise APIs get joint development
Microsoft makes its Visual J++ available
Microsoft may not be ready to share ActiveX tech
Microtec Research licenses JVM and JavaOS for embedded systems
Softbank invests in Asymetrix; Asymetrix lets users modify applets on the fly
Stingray Software releases object-oriented grid extension for Java
Sun releases road map for Java’s future
Sun and Apple get together for some Java
Sun and Egghead sell WorkShop online
Sun Educational Services offers Java training courses
Symantec’s dbAnywhere makes portable, Internet-accessible databases
Vendors tie together OpenDoc and Java Beans
Virtual IP networks use Java-based management agents
WindNavigator allows quick look at Java code
Sun and Apple get together for some Java
Sun Microsystems and Apple Computer promise to integrate a handful of key technologies: QuickTime multimedia with the Java Media APIs, Java Beans and OpenDoc component architectures, and Solaris servers with Mac OS clients. The new deal follows Apple’s submission of several QuickTime-oriented class libraries to JavaSoft in June (JavaSoft earlier resisted Apple’s push to make QuickTime a standard for Java). Sun spokesperson Lisa Poulson said, “We’re making sure QuickTime is supported as an option — it’s a popular standard.”
The two companies have also started work on a gateway between Java Beans and OpenDoc (click here for more). Java Beans is Sun’s lightweight, platform-independent architecture that allows developers to build Java applets that run within different component architectures and operating systems. Sun said it expects to release Java Beans code by the end of the year. OpenDoc is a more mature software component architecture developed by Apple and used by IBM Corp. OpenDoc APIs should be accessible from Java by 1997.
Sun/JavaSoft: https://www.sun.com/smi/Press/sunflash/9609/sunflash.960918.html
Apple: https://product.info.apple.com/pr/press.releases/1996/q4/960918.pr.rel.sun.html
Microsoft makes its Visual J++ available
Microsoft Corp.’s Visual J++, Professional Edition, is now widely available to users. This Java development tool creates Java-compatible applets and provides extensibility with ActiveX controls and components. Visual J++ comes with the following Java programming tools and libraries: AimTech’s Jamba, Neural Applications’ E-Mail Wizard, Object Space’s Java Generic Library, Dimension X’s Liquid Motion, and Bulletproof’s J Design Pro.
Visual J++ is available for 9 and includes the book Learn Java Now, by Stephan R. Davis.
https://www.microsoft.com/visualj
Symantec’s dbAnywhere makes portable, Internet-accessible databases
Symantec Corp.’s dbAnywhere is a database connectivity product that allows Java programs to access corporate databases via the Internet using JavaSoft’s Java Database Connectivity API. Linking to Oracle, Sybase, Watcom, and Microsoft databases, the applications run on the client, not on the database server. dbAnywhere runs on Windows 95, Windows NT Server and Workstation, and can be downloaded for free.
https://www.cafe.symantec.com/dbawpr1.html
Borland announces Java-enabled Interbase SQL Database Server
Borland International Inc. announced InterClient for the InterBase cross-platform SQL database server. InterClient is written entirely in Java and provides JDBC-compliant connectivity for InterBase, improving the performance of Web-centric database functions. Java applets can make direct connections to InterBase database servers because InterClient contains both client and server components. Thus, applets avoid the Web server bottleneck for accessing corporate databases.
A beta version of InterClient is available for download, without charge, over the Web.
https://www.borland.com/interbase/interclient
Softbank invests in Asymetrix; Asymetrix lets users modify applets on the fly
Softbank, an international computer-related publisher, made an equity investment in Asymetrix Corp., an Internet authoring and development tools company, based on Asymetrix’s ToolBook II line of computer-based training solutions and its SuperCede Internet development tools. The first SuperCede product, SuperCede for Java, is a visual, interactive development environment that enables developers to rapidly construct high-speed Java applets and applications. And developers will be able to modify applets while they are running. A beta version will be available from the Asymetrix’s Web site in early October. A combined ActiveX and Java version will be available early in 1997.
Asymetrix and Softbank: https://www.asymetrix.com/pr/softbank.htm
Asymetrix’s SuperCede: https://www.asymetrix.com/nettools/brief
Java Enterprise APIs get joint development
JavaSoft and The Baan Co. will jointly develop enhancements to the Java Enterprise APIs to allow Java programmers to more quickly develop large-scale Internet- and intranet-based applications. The Java Enterprise APIs are part of JavaSoft’s family of standard Java APIs that include specific functionality in areas such as commerce, security, management. For these APIs, Baan and JavaSoft will develop an object-relational mapping system for Java built on JDBC, the Java API for connectivity to industry-standard databases. These enhancements will be made part of the Java Enterprise API offerings and will be available to users across all Java-enabled hardware platforms.
For the developer, this means that access to relational data is transparent to the underlying database, and all access is through the Java platform. For the user, efficient caching of relational data within the Java object will be possible, resulting in better scalability and higher performance of distributed networked applications.
The two companies intend to collaborate on other Java extensions for the enterprise application market.
The Baan Company: https://www.baan.com/2_News/Press_Releases/press21.htm
JavaSoft: https://www.java.com
