Java for the masses

At Software Development ’96 East, Sun Microsystems’s software division announced new products aimed at Java developers and programmers, as well as HTML authors and Internet content providers. Concurrently with Sun’s introduction of the JavaStation — Sun’s new network computer — SunSoft announced Project Studio, Project Speedway, and Project ICE-T. While all three tools can be used by programmers, Sun made much of the fact that Project Studio is specially targeted for those who lack programming experience.

Sun estimates 30 million Web content developers (which it defines to include Webmasters, intranet administrators, and small business owners) exist worldwide. The company emphasized the need to create a bridge between this population and the more technically savvy developers (Sun projects there are one million object-oriented, systems, and network developers) who possess the know-how to turn content into Web pages — essentially making interactivity, and Java, ubiquitous.

Project Studio gives HTML authors and Web content creators the power to develop content for the Web without having to write code. Initial product descriptions call to mind tools like Aimtech’s Jamba or Marimba’s Bongo, which are created for nonprogrammers. (Officials at Sun did not see tools like Borland’s Open JBuilder — formerly called Latte — Microsoft’s Visual J++, or Symantec’s Visual Cafe as competitors of Studio, which they pointed out requires no scripting and which takes a fully intuitive, visual approach.) A rapid-application-development (RAD) tool, Studio is written entirely in Java and makes use of a combination of HTML (in the form of an HTML authoring tool), Java, and a set of reusable components — including charting, graphing, and database access elements. Studio also boasts manipulation via forms, spreadsheet support, and whiteboard and chat components. Furthermore, with a “what-you-see-is-what-you-publish” (WYSIWYP) approach, Studio also includes multimedia editors that handle images and

The concept behind Studio was to make available a development environment in which Java-enabled, interactive Web pages can be created by assembling JavaBeans. In fact, Studio is one of the first implementations of JavaBeans. By putting together JavaBeans that already exist, new, aggregate JavaBeans can be developed.

Larry Weber, vice president and general manager of SunSoft’s WorkShop Product Group, envisions a kind of “chicken and egg” situation: Much of Studio’s power will be in the JavaBeans that are included and can be used separately or combined to form applications; at the same time, with Studio opening up the world of interactive Web applications to millions of people, Weber claims, developers will clamor to create new JavaBeans that satisfy the evolving and increasing needs of these content and information specialists. “It will be up to people out there to come up with new JavaBeans,” said Weber. For now, a key question remains: Can Studio users build real applications using this component model? According to Weber, Studio may be just the thing to provoke developers and users to find an answer.

At the Software Development conference, which took place in Washington, D.C. October 29-November 1, Weber and Joe Keller, director of marketing for SunSoft’s WorkShop Product Group, demo’ed Studio. Using a preexisting spreadsheet of stock information that gets updated in real-time, they quickly developed a 3-D graph of the spreadsheet information by drawing a button and then dragging and dropping spreadsheet and “grapher” icons onto a screen; the button was given behavior by simply drawing lines between it and the icons. Clicking on the button, the stock information on the spreadsheet could get instantly converted to a 3-D graph. Also, the graph could be viewed from many angles.

Studio will support HTML version 3.2, as well as Netscape and Microsoft extensions. It will be available on Solaris/SPARC, Solaris/Intel, Windows 95, Windows NT, and the Power Macintosh — the platforms supported by Java WorkShop. Studio is due out in the first half of ’97.

Additional “projects”

Along with Project Studio, Sun introduced Project Speedway, a suite of technologies that boost Java performance. “Java probably wouldn’t replace C/C++ on its own merit,” Weber told JavaWorld, “but once the decision is made to use Java, Speedway makes it easier.” Weber noted that as applications increase in complexity, Java will have to become faster. Speedway is designed to make this happen.

Speedway is aimed at all levels of Internet developers and includes just-in-time (JIT) compilers, a Java compiler, native Java compilers, high-performance virtual machines, and a licensing program. The JIT compiler technology supports multiple platforms, including Solaris/SPARC, Solaris/Intel, and Power Macintosh, with a JIT validation test suite included. The JITs from Speedway eventually will be used in the JavaStation network computer, Weber said.

SunSoft claims Speedway’s fast Java compiler (javac) reduces developer cycle time, is 10 to 15 times faster than the JDK, and compiles up to one million lines of code per minute. The native compilers boast C++-level performance and provide support for Solaris/SPARC, Solaris/Intel, Windows 95, and Windows NT. Speedway technology will be delivered as part of the Java WorkShop family of products. The JIT compilers, JIT validation test suite, and javac will be available by the end of this year; the native compiler and high-performance VM will appear in the second half of 1997.

Sun also announced Project ICE-T, which is designed to access and manage existing applications and is aimed at high-level development. With ICE-T, existing applications are provided with a “run-anywhere Java user interface”; the client is replaced by a Java-enabled “universal client.” It allows for asynchronous communication between client and server as well as easy authentication and encryption. ICE-T is designed for message-based application management, especially for Web client/server applications, and supports Java to C/C++ connectivity. ICE-T will be available in the first half of ’97.

Finally, some enhancements to Java WorkShop, SunSoft’s integrated Java development environment, were promised:

• Improved performance by nearly three-and-a-half times compared to version 1.0
• Support for JavaBeans, editor syntax highlighting, and remote debugging
• Enhanced wizards
• Integration of SunOs JIT technology and javac technology

Also, Java WorkShop now supports the Power Macintosh. SunSoft officials were not specific on the release date of the Java WorkShop enhancements and PowerMac support, only giving “first half of ’97” as the availability timeframe.