Microsoft Opens Java Integration Technologies

Release of New Developer Tools Interoperability Kit Fosters Improved Interoperability Between Development Tools, Operating Systems and Hardware

REDMOND, Wash. - May 18, 1999 - Microsoft Corp. today announced the immediate, royalty-free availability of the Developer Tools Interoperability Kit. This new kit provides development tools vendors with specifications and test software to enable Microsoft's Java language interoperability technologies to be incorporated into third-party compilers and virtual machines.

These interoperability technologies, which include the Microsoft® J/Direct™ application programming interface, Java/COM and Delegates, enable vendors to offer tools that can tightly integrate applications written in the Java language with other programming languages, operating systems and hardware. In turn, software developers using the compilers and virtual machines that support these technologies have the option to build applications that offer superior performance, richer functionality, and better interoperability with software written in other languages and take maximum advantage of customer investments in Microsoft Windows® operating system-based hardware and software.

"The opening of these technologies will enable healthy competition among Java compiler and virtual machine vendors and broaden the choices for developers using Windows," said Yisroel Bongart, vice president of the Information Systems & Communications Division at Prudential Securities Inc. "This is clearly a step in the right direction."

While the J/Direct, Java/COM and Delegates technologies have always been accessible to programmers using Microsoft's award-winning Java compiler and virtual machine, the Developer Tools Interoperability Kit assists vendors in adding these features to other compilers and virtual machines. The kit includes specifications for implementing the technologies as well as test code to ensure the highest possible level of compatibility between different tools and virtual machines. These technologies can also be implemented on operating systems besides Windows to provide greater interoperability between Java and native code or to facilitate similar integration between other programming languages.

"Many developers would like to build highly integrated applications for their customers who use Windows and seamlessly integrate Java code at a peer level with other languages," said Tod Nielsen, vice president of marketing, Developer Group, Microsoft. "As a result, customers have asked Microsoft to open up its interoperability technologies to other tools and virtual machine vendors to make this choice more broadly available across the industry."

Java Interoperability Technologies

J/Direct permits developers to call any Win32® API or dynamic-link library (DLL) directly from the Java language, allowing developers to tap the huge variety of applications and services available for the Windows operating system. With J/Direct, developers don't have to rewrite existing code or provide cumbersome native code wrappers to call highly optimized commercial Windows-based software from the Java language. It offers significant performance and efficiency advantages over other native code-calling conventions for Java.

The Java/COM facility provides automatic, bidirectional mapping of COM and Java objects. Because COM is supported on hundreds of millions of personal computers and by many of the world's most popular applications, Java/COM lets software written in the Java language

participate as a first-class citizen and easily mix and match with software components written in other languages.

Delegates bring an event-handling capability to Java that is common in other programming languages like C++, Modula or Pascal. Developers frequently write code to handle different events, and the process of doing this through interfaces in Java can be tedious and incur significant overhead. Delegates avoids both the overhead and extra code required of manual adapter classes and simplifies the situation where there are multiple recipients of a single event.

Availability

The Developer Tools Interoperability Kit can be downloaded from http://www.microsoft.com/java/ at no charge (connect-time charges may apply). For more information on J/Direct, Java/COM and Delegates, please visit the Microsoft Web site at http://www.microsoft.com/java/.

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT") is the worldwide leader in software for personal computers. The company offers a wide range of products and services for business and personal use, each designed with the mission of making it easier and more enjoyable for people to take advantage of the full power of personal computing every day.

Microsoft, J/Direct, Windows and Win32 are either trademarks or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.

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