Sun has launched an all-out effort to catch up in the Web services field and to embrace its underpinnings, such as the XML standards for describing data and messages. Senior executives say "Java and XML" where they once just said "Java," and Sun changed Green's title last year from general manager of Java to general manager of Java and XML (Extensible Markup Language). Sun uses the cross-platform, all-operating-systems-welcome Java as a way to outflank Microsoft. The programming language has been most successful in areas where Microsoft is comparatively weak: servers and gadgets, for example, but not desktop computers. Monday's announcement follows this pattern, trying to make Java, not Windows, the foundation for Web services. Microsoft and Sun are keenly aware of the importance of development tools in moving a technology from the idea stage to something that's useful in real life. Sun plans to announce on Wednesday a new Mobile Edition of its Forte programming tools to build Java programs for gadgets. And Sun's Java-Web services union in gadgets has support from development-tool sellers Borland and Metrowerks, as well as from Motorola, Research in Motion, Oracle, Siemens and Symbian. Microsoft's "Stinger" Windows-powered cell phone initiative certainly can't claim as much success, but the company has made strong progress. .Net Compact Framework is a subset of Microsoft's .Net Framework technology, which has been available the last few months and is a key piece of the company's .Net Web services strategy. Currently a part of the Visual Studio.Net software-development tools, the .Net Framework is the software fabric that automates many development tasks and helps software run reliably and securely across multiple servers and computers. The software is available for free download from Microsoft's Web site. The .Net Compact Framework is aimed at personal digital assistants, mobile phones and other handheld devices. It will be built for Windows CE devices initially, but Microsoft says it may make the framework available for multiple hardware platforms and operating systems. However, it has not announced any concrete plans yet. Microsoft released a technology preview of the .Net Compact Framework last October and will release a beta version this spring. Final release is expected in the second half of 2002, a Microsoft representative said. Regardless of whose technology is used, running Web services on cell phones is a stretch because of the limited computing power available. "The big challenge is how you get it to fit in the cell phones," said Java creator James Gosling. Sun has addressed the issue through a feature of Java that lets computing jobs be split across different devices in the network. A cell phone could shunt off the more processing-intensive Web services to a server, while a comparatively powerful device such as a handheld computer could do more of the work itself, Green said. Sun also is working on a project called "Monty" to speed up the performance of Java Virtual Machines by a factor of five to 10. JVMs are the essential parts of the Java technology that translate Java programs into instructions different computers can understand. The Monty team includes members of the team that wrote the HotSpot JVM that improved Java for servers and desktop computers, Green said.
See the Software News Section for the latest headlines on everything from peer to peer clients to Office software and beyond.
Have your say instantly, and see what others have said. Go to the ZDNet news forum.
Let the editors know what you think in the Mailroom.
