The Java Community Process Program Celebrates Five Years of Excellence in Community-Based Java Technology Development

The Java Community Process Program Celebrates Five Years of Excellence in Community-Based Java Technology Development

Outstanding Track Record Makes The JCP IT's Premier Organization for The Development of the Java Technology Binary Software Standard

LAS VEGAS, ApacheCon, November 18, 2003 - - On behalf of the members of the Java Community Process (JCP) program, the JCP Program Management Office(PMO) today announced at ApacheCon, that December 2003 marks its fifth anniversary of providing successful support for community collaboration for the development of high-quality Java technology standards. Today's announcement coincides with the publishing of the final results of the JCP Executive Committees (EC) 2003 elections. Tasked in their EC roles with guiding the evolution of Java technology and shaping the future of the JCP program itself, the new and reelected members to the JCP ECs will take office on November 25. Final elections results are posted at http://jcpelection2003.org.

"As we celebrate the fifth anniversary of the JCP, and welcome new and reelected members to the JCP ECs, the membership of the JCP can feel great pride that their efforts have created not only one of the most important developer communities in the world, but that those efforts have led to the industry's recognition of the JCP as the premier body for the establishment of the Java technology binary software standard," said Rob Gingell, Chair, JCP. "Honored with industry awards including JavaPro's Award for outstanding contribution to the growth of the Java developer community, and SD Times' 100 award for Standards Bodies & Consortia Category, the JCP has demonstrated an unshakable commitment to Java technology compatibility, produced tremendous technology and innovation output, and done so through the efforts of an international group of members in corporations, educational institutions, communities of developers in open source projects and individuals."

233 JSRs were submitted to the JCP program since the process began in 1998, representing an average of 45 new specifications per year. About a third of the submitted JSRs have been completed.

Introduced by Sun in 1995, the JCP was formalized in December 1998 as a community based program for evolving and maintaining Java technology. The community has steadily grown into an open organization of international Java technology developers whose charter is to develop and revise Java technology specifications, reference implementations and technology compatibility kits.

With a membership made up of more than 680 participants, the JCP program boasts having the most advanced Java technology expertise in the industry and top developer talent. Experts from leading IT corporations, developer communities including the open source community, academia and individual developers work together under the JCP to deliver on the promise of Java technology compatibility. They balance consensus with speed to develop and maintain a comprehensive standards-based platform that benefits entire industries.

A Forum for Innovation

The innovation track record of the JCP program includes:

in the enterprise space, two versions of the J2EE(TM) platform specification
in the desktop space, one version of the J2SE(TM) specification with a second version nearing completion
in the wireless space, two versions of the CLDC/MIDP profiles
in the web services space, more than ten XML based Java platform specifications, the foundation for interoperable Java Web Services
for vertical industries, OSS and JAIN APIs

An Evolving, Inclusive Community

A JCP program veteran and member of the JCP EC, Don Deutsch, vice president of standards strategy and architecture at Oracle Corp., states, "There is no question that in its five years of existence the JCP lived through difficult moments. However, the community has always found the inner strength to reinvent itself. For instance, with version 2.0 of the JCP, two Executive Committees were introduced - one for enterprise Java and one for wireless Java - to fundamentally enhance member participation in the decision making process. This capacity to evolve the process itself -- not just the Java platform -- turned the JCP into what it is today: the most successful industry collaboration ever dedicated to the development of high-quality binary-based Java standards."

Program milestones since JCP's inception include:

JCP 1.0, December 1998 - formation of the JCP Program Management office
JCP 2.0, June 2000 - installment of ECs as key decision makers, others than Sun can lead and license JSRs
JCP 2.1, July 2001 - updating of the JCP program voting rules
JCP 2.5, October 2002 - introduction of provisions marking Open Source's equal standing in the Community
JCP 2.6, planned for early 2004 - introduction of provisions to make the process more transparent and efficient (JSR 215)

"In October 2002, the key governing document of the JCP, the JSPA, was changed in a manner beneficial to both open-source software and expanded community participation. This change allowed compatible, independent implementations of Java specifications to be licensed under open-source licenses," said Geir Magnusson Jr., vice president, Java Community Process, Apache Software Foundation. "This change in permitted licensing, along with reductions in the JCP's fee structure, allows greater participation in the JCP by individual developers as well as non-profit organizations."

The response to the JCP 2.5 changes was positive and immediate including Apache Software Foundation's signing of several stand alone Technology Compatibility Kits(TCK) licenses for the purpose of building independent implementations including JAXB JSR, Servlets JSR.

JCP.next

The future direction of the JCP program is outlined in JSR 215 which, based on feedback from specification leads, experts, EC members and the JCP Program Office, proposes a series of changes aimed at increasing the transparency and the efficiency of the process while maintaining the focus of the community on the establishment of the Java technology binary software standard.

The proposed specification draft is in advanced approval stages by the community and the ECs and is expected to be delivered in early 2004. To find out more about the proposed JSR 215 and timeline, please visit http://jcp.org/en/jsr/detail?id=215

About the Java Community Process

Since its introduction in 1998 as the open, inclusive process to develop and revise Java technology specifications, reference implementations, and technology compatibility kits, the Java Community Process program has fostered the evolution of the Java platform in cooperation with the international Java developer community. The JCP has over 680 company and individual participants; more than 200 Java technology specifications are in development in the JCP program out of which 46% are in final stages. For more information on the JCP program, please visit http://jcp.org

About Sun Microsystems, Inc.

Since its inception in 1982, a singular vision -- "The Network Is The Computer" -- has propelled Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Nasdaq: SUNW) to its position as a leading provider of industrial-strength hardware, software and services that make the Net work. Sun can be found in more than 100 countries and on the World Wide Web at http://sun.com

Sun, Sun Microsystems, the Sun logo, Java, J2SE, J2EE, Java Community Process and JCP are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and other countries.