Sun Outlines Three Editions of Java™ 2 Platform
Editions Address Specific Market Opportunities; Facilitate Emerging Markets
SAN FRANCISCO - JavaOne Developer Conference - June 15, 1999 - Today at the JavaOne Developer Conference, Sun Microsystems, Inc. announced a redefined architecture for the Java™ platform, aimed at making it simpler for software developers, service providers and device manufacturers to target specific markets. The architecture constitutes a comprehensive, end-to-end blueprint and integrated set of solutions spanning the full spectrum of network market opportunities from small, portable consumer devices to the mission critical datacenter.
The revised structure defines three editions of the Java platform:
(See separate releases on each edition.)
J2EE has all the functionality required for heavy-duty server systems and J2SE provides appropriate functionality for the desktop/workstation devices. J2ME is intentionally small to fit reduced memory consumer devices and can distribute functionality, as appropriate, between the resource-constrained client and the server.
"Our goal with this structure is to organize and integrate the appropriate technologies that address the enterprise, desktop and consumer electronics markets," said Alan Baratz, president of Software Products and Platforms at Sun Microsystems. "We have redefined the Java platform to provide a more market-focused view. We did this to make it easier to capitalize on the Java platform for a growing range of opportunities."
Each of the new Java platform editions combines Sun Java virtual machines, the Java programming language, core packages, and optional packages. The new editions share many core packages and the Java programming language to facilitate developer productivity and compatibility. To further refine the target markets for each edition, especially the consumer electronics market addressed by J2ME, Sun will provide sets of application programming interfaces (APIs), called profiles, with the specific edition.
A specific profile teamed with a specific edition provides a complete deployment environment for devices in a specific vertical market. Examples of profiles include a wireless profile that spans low-end cellular phones and pagers, or another for handheld devices, such as PDA's and mobile point-of-sale terminals.
The introduction of new profiles will be driven through the Java Community Process (JCP), an open, participative process that allows interested Java technology users to work together to define new APIs that support additional functionality for the platform. The Java Community Process utilizes a strictly defined and independently audited set of procedures to guarantee open, industry-wide participation in its working groups. The JCP is currently working on more than a dozen extensions to the Java 2 platform.
Baratz noted that the Java platform has expanded at an even clip with the Internet, adding over 70 new interfaces for features ranging from smart cards to mission critical data centers. "We're proud of what we have achieved," noted Baratz. "But the end result has left a veritable alphabet soup of acronyms to describe various features. Consequently, we are reorganizing the technologies to better reflect the markets they address."
Finally, noted Baratz, the new structure does not change the licensing model for the Java platform source code, nor does it affect the ability of software developers to incorporate the Java Runtime Environment binary in their applications at no charge.
Applications on all three editions can be developed using a common application programming model. Applications developed using the programming model will scale upwardly from systems built with Java 2 Platform, Micro Edition to systems built with Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition.
Since cross-platform compatibility is the key value proposition of the Java 2 platform, each edition of the Java 2 platform has a set of compatibility tests to ensure that all applications written for a particular platform can run seamlessly across all compatible implementations of that platform. Similarly, each profile will have an associated profile compatibility test suite that will work together with the edition's compatibility test suite.
About Sun Microsystems, Inc.
Since its inception in 1982, a singular vision, "The Network Is The Computer TM," has propelled Sun Microsystems, Inc. (NASDAQ: SUNW), to its position as a leading provider of high quality hardware, software and services for establishing enterprise-wide intranets and expanding the power of the Internet. With more than $11 billion in annual revenues, Sun can be found in more 150 countries and on the World Wide Web at http://www.sun.com.Sun, the Sun logo, Sun Microsystems, Solaris and Java are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and in other countries.