Sun Microsystems held it’s annual JavaOne conference in San Francisco this year. There was a great turnout and many announcements made during the first two days. For details on each announcement Sun has set up a nice JavaOne website to link you to more detailed information.
Sun’s leading announcements include:
java.net: The Center for Developer Innovation
The 2004 JavaOne Developer Conference marks the first anniversary of java.net, the source for Java technology collaboration sponsored by Sun. In less than a year after the site’s launch, java.net has reached 50,000 users and 1,000 projects, continuing its efforts to provide the definitive online community for Java technology development. The community provides feature content and collaborative development tools helping to create a unique community of learning and development. Coupled with content and infrastructure, Sun’s expertise in open source has created a unique community that provides developers with the tools, information and resources they need to participate in or run their own open source-based projects.
In addition, java.net launched a new community dedicated to the discussion, development and collaboration of Java Specification Requests (JSR) proposed by Java Community Process (JCP) members. This new community aims to increase efficiency by making it easier to set up JSR projects and providing the appropriate tools needed to communicate and share code with the community for greater transparency.
Project Looking Glass and Java 3D
Sun underscored its commitment to open source and desktop technology leadership by contributing Project Looking Glass and Java 3D technology to the open source community. This contribution will unleash a new dimension of developer innovation by making Suns cutting edge technology available at Sun’s 3D Desktop Technology Open Source Project on java.net.
Project Looking Glass, Java 3D, JDIC and JDNC projects are part of javadesktop.org, the java.net community for desktop developers.
Project Looking Glass: Accelerating Innovative 3D Desktop Development
Project Looking Glass is the 3D desktop project that first captivated the technology industry and blew the lid off the traditional windowing paradigm at its first mass demo in Summer 2003. Project Looking Glass’ innovative desktop interface offers an intuitive, new 3D environment to interact with desktop applications featuring window transparency, rotation, zoom, multiple desktop workspaces and miniaturization. The technology helps developers build highly visual 3D desktops and applications that will run on the Solaris Operating System (OS) and Linux systems such as Sun’s Java Desktop System. The Project Looking Glass developer’s release is expected to enable Java technology developers to break new ground in the way information and data is represented to the user.
The following features are now available in the Project Looking Glass developer’s release:
- 3D Window Manager Platform – Highly scalable Java 3D Application Programming Interface (API) with client-server model support that helps developers with design documents, initial specification and prototype implementation.
- 3D Window Manager and Application Development API – Java API to enable development of new 3D desktop applications and 3D Window Manager features for the Project Looking Glass platform.
- Native Application Integration Module – Module to run X11 applications within the 3D environment.
- Sample 3D Window Manager – Sample implementation for testing and demonstration purposes.
- 3D Environment Lite – Stand alone, simplified 3D environment for development and testing that can be run on any Java 3D API-enabled platform including Linux and the Solaris OS. For more information on Project Looking Glass, visit www.sun.com/software/project-looking-glass.
Java 3D: Taking Java Technology to New Dimensions
Sun is also releasing the Java 3D API to the open source community on java.net. The Java 3D API, recently used by NASA for its command and control system for the Mars Rover mission, helps developers incorporate high-quality, scalable, platform-independent 3D graphics into applications and applets based on Java technology. To access Java 3D, visit java.sun.com/products/java-media/3D/. To join and contribute to the community, visit http://java3d.dev.java.net/.
JDesktop Integration Components (JDIC)
The JDIC project, launched on java.net, will continue Java technology’s focus on seamless desktop integration. It complements the native look and feel for Windows XP and GTK introduced in Java 2 Standard Edition (J2SE) 1.4.2 and the desktop integration enhancements in J2SE 5.0. JDIC will help developers create applications that run on multiple operating systems while giving users a quality user experience consistent with their desktop. Visit http://jdic.dev.java.net for more details.
JDesktop Network Components (JDNC)
JDNC aims to simplify the development of rich networked desktop applications. It offers a set of high-level user interface components with built-in networking and data-binding support that can be configured via Extensible Markup Language (XML). JDNC will lower the bar for rich client development and boost developer productivity, enabling a larger portion of developers to take advantage of highly interactive client applications. More information can be found at http://jdnc.dev.java.net.
Java 2 Platform Standard Edition Technology
Sun announced the Beta 2 release of the J2SE 5.0 software development kit (JDK), which includes tools such as compilers and debuggers necessary for developing applets and applications and the Java Runtime Environment (JRE). It is available for download at http://java.sun.com/j2se. In addition, Sun announced that Java Specification Request (JSR) 176 has reached final draft through the Java Community Process (JCP). J2SE 5.0 is based upon JSR 176.
The product is available to developers via the Java Developer Kit (JDK) and due for release in the fall of this year, J2SE 5.0 features major code enhancements to speed development, simplify debugging and improve programmer productivity.
Java 2 Platform Enterprise Edition Technology
Leveraging the new Java 2 Platform Standard Edition technology, Sun also previewed the upcoming Java 2 Platform Enterprise Edition (J2EE) 5.0 technology. The J2EE platform is the cornerstone of the lucrative Java Web services market and key enabler for service-oriented architectures. The J2EE 5.0 software, which is currently under discussion in JCP expert groups, focuses on the common theme of ease of development by leveraging the new language features in J2SE 5.0.
The use of annotations as defined in JSR 175 allows the developer to write components such as Enterprise JavaBeans more easily. The J2EE 5.0 specification (JSR 244) will also simplify common development scenarios. In addition, the specification plans to introduce a unified scripting model for the Web-tier. It also is expected to build on the already strong support of Web services with new releases of Java Architecture for XML Binding (JAXB) and Java API for XML-based RPC (JAX-RPC) APIs.
Some technologies planned for inclusion with J2EE 5.0 such as JavaServer Faces technology and Java Standard Tag Libraries (JSTL) technology can be previewed now as part of the J2EE 1.4 SDK. The J2EE SDK is available now, free for development and deployment in production at http://java.sun.com/j2ee/1.4/download.html
Sun Developer Network
The unveiling of the Sun Developer Network – the culmination of the company’s developer network strategy that unifies tools, developer expertise and communities into a simple subscription that makes Java development easier, simpler, faster and more innovative. Sun also announced a promotion designed for new members who sign up for a three-year Java Studio Enterprise software subscription at the discounted price of US$1,499 per year and will receive a free, high performance Sun AMD Opteron processor-based workstation.
Java Studio Creator
The commercial availability of Sun Java Studio Creator, the first visual development tool that generates 100 percent compatible Java code. Aimed at corporate developers new to Java programming, Java Studio Creator will be free with the purchase of a Sun Developer Network Standard subscription, priced at US$99 per developer per year.
Java Studio Creator is designed to address the needs of skilled developers whose primary, day-to-day concern is the rapid delivery of business-critical applications. The first pure Java technology visual development tool, Java Studio Creator will be available for free with the purchase of a one-year Sun Developer Network Standard subscription, priced at US$99. This price includes a perpetual license for Java Studio Creator and access for one year to product updates and upgrades, plus access to premium content and Community Support Forums.
Java Studio Creator is currently available on the Solaris Operating System, Windows and Linux platforms. Sun also announced support for the Mac OS X platform, and the availability of the Early Access release of the Macintosh version.
Java Studio Creator is a comprehensive develop/debug/deploy solution that includes Sun Java System Application Server 8, Platform Edition, a component of the Sun Java Enterprise System, as a target development and deployment platform. It also includes the Java 2 Platform Standard Edition Software Development Kit (SDK).
Key features include:
- Data aware user interface components that automatically connect to data sources dragged onto them, providing quick visual access to SQL queries.
- Simple event-driven coding model enabling developers to focus on business logic and hiding infrastructure details.
- Visual Web services consumption for easy access to Service-Oriented Architectures (SOA).
- Ability to visually create Java 2 Platform Enterprise Edition (J2EE) 1.3 technology compatible Web applications that run on any Web or application server supporting JavaServer Pages 1.2 software.
- Intuitive page navigation design, allowing visual connection creation between pages and defining navigation cases through simple rules.
Java Studio Enterprise 7 Environment: Summer Early Access Release
Sun also announced that the Sun Java Studio Enterprise 7 Early Access release is slated for late summer. This release will feature integrated Embarcadero Technologies’ Describe UML model-driven analysis and design technology. Release 7 will support all major phases of the development lifecycle, from reverse engineering and documentation of code to user interaction and process modeling, to code generation and deployment of applications.
Other new capabilities will include application profiling, which will chart performance and trace individual browser requests, enhancing overall application performance, including transactional details for single requests with individual application-level Java Enterprise System components and method-level type analysis. The release also offers integrated collaborative development for improved team productivity with code-aware instant messaging and real-time file sharing. Finally, refactoring for simplified code maintenance and extended Java Enterprise System software components will be available.
Customers of the current release of Sun Java Studio Enterprise who are registered subscribers of Sun Developer Network will have access to a preview version of the next release featuring the integrated UML technology as soon as it becomes available.
NetBeans 4.0 Software Preview
The NetBeans Software Day occured on Tuesday with a keynote address from Sun’s James Gosling. The keynote featured the upcoming 4.0 release, which is expected to be available in Beta by the end of July.
NetBeans Project Now Delivers Full J2EE Technology Development Capabilities
With Sun’s contribution of the capability to develop J2EE technology applications, NetBeans now spans the full range of Java technology development – from mobility, to desktop, to Web services – with one open source IDE. Building on the existing JavaServer Pages software, Java servlet extension and JSR-45 compliant Java Standard Tag Library support, NetBeans now supports full J2EE technology development capabilities including EJB components. When combined with the Java Web Services Developer Pack and a deployment runtime like the Sun Java System Application Server (a component of the Sun Java Enterprise System) NetBeans provides the ideal IDE for secure, interoperable Web services.
Technology from Gosling’s Jackpot project will serve as the basis for NetBeans’ new refactoring features, which will help provide simplified code maintenance for developers. Technology from Sun Labs will also provide a foundation for the next-generation source code analysis and transformation features that will be included in future releases of the NetBeans project.
Performance Profiling Technology Added to NetBeans
The new NetBeans profiler project will allow developers easy access to CPU and memory usage data. “Performance profiling tools are a critical piece to the overall development process for large Java technology applications,” said Steve Wilson, engineering director for NetBeans technology and lead author of the book Java Platform Performance. “By making a set of state-of-the art performance tools available at zero cost, deeply integrated into the IDE, we will allow thousands of developers to take full advantage of the Java platform.”
Mobile and Wireless Features
For mobile developers, release 4.0 will provide expanded support for Java 2 Platform Micro Edition (J2ME), including Mobile Information Device Profile (MIDP) 2.0 and Connected Limited Device Configuration (CLDC) 1.1, and support for the J2ME Wireless Toolkit (WTK) 2.2.
The J2ME Wireless Toolkit 2.2 software Beta version, with new APIs, is available at (http://java.sun.com/products/j2mewtoolkit). The award-winning toolkit provides Java technology developers with the emulation environment, documentation and examples needed to develop mobile Java applications for mobile information devices such as cellular phones and entry-level PDAs.
The J2ME Wireless Toolkit implements impressive capabilities that are exposed through standard APIs as defined through the Java Community Process (JCP). The new J2ME Web Services APIs (JSR 172) let J2ME devices act as Web services clients, simplifying the extension of enterprise applications to the mobile workforce. Other new APIs included in the Wireless Toolkit 2.2 beta version are:
- Wireless Messaging API (WMA) 2.0 (JSR 205)
- Mobile 3D Graphics API for J2ME (JSR 184)
- PDA Optional Packages for the J2ME Platform (JSR 75)
- Java APIs for Bluetooth (JSR 82)
Project Kitty Hawk
Project Kitty Hawk is designed to enable a new breed of enterprise software built around Java technology-based Web services, incorporating an SOA programming model and an open, extensible architecture. Elements of Project Kitty Hawk are currently scheduled to be phased into the Java Enterprise System and Java Studio Enterprise developer environment over the next two years, with initial deliveries targeted for the first half of 2005.
Leveraging Project Kitty Hawk, Java Enterprise System is envisioned to greatly simplify the administration, management, security and provisioning of services by making it possible to expose core SOA capabilities as a collection of reusable services. For example, IT organizations building SOA applications will have the ability to use a Java Enterprise System-based registry service to provide centralized control of services versioning, services metadata management, and services registration and lookup, streamlining operations and enabling global services administration.
Using the shared services model and federation approach projected to be enabled by Project Kitty Hawk, IT organizations will be enabled to work with an enterprise-wide view of their services infrastructure. At the same time, Project Kitty Hawk will enable finer control in administering service-level agreements, security policies, and identity and user management across the organization.
Project Kitty Hawk will also feature next-generation business integration infrastructure, which Sun refers to as Java Business Integration. Sun and its partners plan to deliver this infrastructure, along with its partners, based on Java Business Integration standards. Java Business Integration, based on Java Specification Request (JSR) 208, is a Sun-led industry effort to extend the Java platform to provide new standardized integration capabilities built on a modern SOA architecture. Currently, there are 24 active members in the Expert Group for JSR-208 in addition to Sun, including BEA Systems, Collaxa, Oracle, SAP AG, SeeBeyond Technology Corp., Sonic Software, Sybase Inc., TIBCO Software and webMethods, Inc.
Implementations based on Java Business Integration will help to provide IT organizations with higher levels of portability and reuse of integration technologies not achievable with current integration products. Java Business Integration components such as business process engines, rules engines, and routing and transformation engines from multiple vendors can be easily combined in a single solution, reducing the cost of application integration and enabling best-of-breed solutions.
Additional capabilities planned for Project Kitty Hawk include Java Studio tools that enable Service Oriented Development of Applications (SODA) for deployment to the secure technologies in Project Kitty Hawk planned for the Java Enterprise System. These development environments include:
- Java Studio Enterprise, the newest version expected in July, a collaborative development tool for rapid modeling, visualization, and secure implementation of patterns-based, service-driven components for the Java Enterprise System.
- Java Studio Creator, an easy-to-use tool for visual design and development of Web-tier applications, now available from Sun.
- A visual Web services designer that will enable visual design-to-test lifecycle development of asynchronous, distributed and conversational Web services, with exceptional speed and ease-of-use, to be made available to subscribers of the Sun Developer Network.
