Get the real story via our bi-monthly newsletter

Search

    4
    0

rss

Send to a colleague

Home > Commentary > Trends Archive > Sun to pursue Java-less Java?

Browse TrendWatch Blog

Recent Blog Entries

The Complete Archive

Trends by Vendor


TrendWatch by Channel

Web Content Management Trends

Enterprise Portals Trends

ECM Trends

Web Analytics Trends

Enterprise Search Trends

SharePoint Trends

Digital & Media Asset Management Trends

XML & Component Content Management Trends

E-mail Archiving & Management Trends

Enterprise Social Software & Collaboration Trends


Report Excerpt

The Enterprise Portals Report looks at... Integration with office tools in Sun's Portal Server

"There is unfortunately no WebDAV support nor integration from within Microsoft Office of StarOffice. So, you can drop desktop files into the repository, but you cannot save directly to SJSPS from which your usual Office applications. "

(p. 264)

More about The Enterprise Portals Report

Our customers say

"The Enterprise Portals Report does an excellent job of articulating the key complexities and challenges associated with portal implementations, and will greatly assist organizations in planning for and executing portal initiatives.
- - Mike Girifalco,
Director of Engineering, Bit Group, Inc.

NEW at CMS Watch

The Search and Information Access ReportThe Search & Information Access Report: This newly updated 341-page Search and Information Access Report critically evaluates 23 Search and Information Access offerings from around the globe... Read more

The Enterprise Collaboration & Community Software ReportThe Enterprise Collaboration & Community Software Report : This newly updated research critically evaluates 27 Enterprise Collaboration and Community Software products head-to-head... Read more

The Enterprise Content Management ReportThe Enterprise Content Management Report : This newly updated research critically evaluates 32 Enterprise Content Management products head-to-head... Read more

 
 

TrendWatch Blog

Sun to pursue Java-less Java?

29-Feb-2008   --  

Sun Microsystems CEO Jonathan Schwartz, speaking at the SugarCRM Customer and Developer Conference earlier this month, made a pronouncement that went largely unnoticed by industry pundits. "I think what you'll see from Sun," Schwartz remarked, "is that we're just going to take the 'J' off the 'JVM' and just make it a 'VM'."

Wait. Roll the tape back. Did Schwartz just say that he wants to factor Java out of the JVM?

If so, it could have important ramifications for the Web CMS and Portal marketplaces in particular.

At first blush, it sounds like a radical notion. But it's not. Microsoft pioneered the idea of a language-neutral virtual machine years ago with its Common Language Infrastructure specification, also known as ECMA-335. The CLI spec provides the basis for the .NET virtual machine (which does indeed support multiple languages).

The Java community's comeback is something called the Da Vinci Machine project, which has an explicit goal of "extending the JVM with first-class architectural support for languages other than Java, especially dynamic languages."

So now Sun wants to out-dot-NET dot-NET. But that's something Sun could have attempted years ago. Why do it now? No doubt the groundswell of interest in dynamic languages (Ruby, Perl, Python, Groovy, and so on), driven by Web 2.0, has awakened Sun to the realization that programmers now want the best of both worlds: They want the rapid development that dynamic languages afford, yet they also want the very real benefits (in terms of thread management, garbage collection, security sandboxing, memory management, platform independence) of running inside a VM.

But still, why would Sun want to go in the direction of a Java-less JVM if it didn't have to?

It turns out there's an elephant in the room, and its name is Adobe. It's no secret that Flex (Adobe's answer to Web 2.0 development) is gaining traction every day, and Flex outputs bytecode for the Adobe VM. Close observers of the Mozilla ecosystem have known for a while that Adobe's VM (a.k.a. Tamarin) will soon be an integral part of Firefox. And lest there be any doubt about what's going on, Adobe CTO Kevin Lynch admitted at an industry event last Monday that Adobe is working on a project to allow C, C++, and other languages to run atop the AVM. Let's recap: Adobe is in the "Java-less" VM business. Big time.

As it turns out, the AVM is actually fairly mature (it has powered several generations of Flash), not to mention fast (it supports just-in-time compilation), and it already powers a sizable percentage of the world's (ahem) flashiest Web 2.0 applications. It will soon be built into Firefox's scripting engine, and if Adobe has its way, it will be on every PC user's AIR-conditioned desktop faster than you can say "Silverlight."

Sun clearly has its work cut out for it, if it wants to remain relevant in the VM wars.

Regardless, unshackling Java from the JVM (or vice-versa) can only be A Good Thing in the long run. It means programmers will (at last) be free to take a best-of-breed approach in choosing the right language for the job. (Bytecode, after all, is bytecode. Who cares how you produce it?) Most of all, it will mean rapid application development, finally, for server apps that will run on the JVM, something most of us have been wanting since 1995.

Why does all this matter for the tools we follow? Well, we've been seeing a long-term trend among packaged applications away from lighter languages towards more "enterprise-ready" Java (c.f., Nuxeo, Interwoven, Vignette, et. al.). But this transition has been a difficult one for vendors and customers alike. Perhaps you'll see a renewed investment in dynamic languages across various content technologies. We'll be watching.

- Submitted by: Kas Thomas, Analyst - Twitter: kasthomas

All Portal Channel Trends

Join the conversation

Digg This! Search Technorati Tag it on Del.icio.us




Get a Free Sample

Wondering about CMS Watch research? Sign up to receive free samples of any of our products.




What we do

CMS Watch™ evaluates content-oriented technologies, publishing head-to-head comparative reviews of leading solutions. What makes us special?

  • Our critical analysis exposes product weaknesses as well as strengths
  • We deliver unrivaled technical depth and comprehensive project advice
  • Our research is led by international topic experts
  • We only work for buyers -- never for vendors

Contact us

CMS Watch

info@cmswatch.com

3470 Olney-Laytonsville Road Suite 131

Olney, MD USA 20832

1 800 325 6190

1 617 340 6464

UK: +44 2033181911

Fax: +1 617 340 3541