August 11, 1997

Techview: It's Time To Sell Java On Merit By Sean Gallagher un Microsystems' push for Java world domination has suffered some recent setbacks-or at least that's what it looks like on the surface. Sun's efforts to get the programming language on a fast track to becoming a certified standard have failed, and the company has scaled back its "100% Pure Java" marketing initiative. If you look at these with a negative spin, you'd think Java was in dire straits. But what may seem like curses are really blessings in disguise. Neither effort would have done Java any real good in the long run. Now, Sun has to sell Java on its merits instead of relying on hype. In a little less than two years, Java has gone from the kernel of a washed-out interactive television product to distributed application superstardom. It's gotten that far thanks to a little luck, a lot of technical strength, and a Mt. St. Helens-scale eruption of hype. Without so much as a single television ad, Java has almost outdone Windows 95 in name recognition. My grandfather doesn't know what Java is, but he wants to buy stock in it. Java still has plenty going for it in terms of technical momentum. It now has a solid component model, JavaBeans, which makes developing applications with the language even easier. But now the hype is evaporating, and Sun is once again facing the problem it has always had in the software market-as one of my engineering friends once said, "They can't market themselves out of a wet paper bag." Then there's the company's track record for collaboration. Sun CEO Scott McNealy may have a certain schoolboy charm, but he rarely gets high marks for playing well with others. The perceived high-level arrogance at Sun makes it hard for the company to succeed in the consensus-based world of industry standards committees. But the value of having Java made into an official standard is negligible anyway. Sun would have to give up a significant amount of control over the language and associated technologies for them to become "open standards." Considering how Microsoft is doing what it can to subvert Java to its own ends-building its own class libraries for Java (the Application Foundation Class) and shipping only its own class libraries with Internet Explorer, for example-giving up control is the last thing Sun should do right now. My advice to Sun: The best way to make Java a "standard" is to partner with companies that can make the most of Java's "run anywhere" nature-and market it. Sun shouldn't worry about whether those partners use "pure" Java or not; if it looks like Java, acts like Java, and communicates with other Java components the way Java does, that's good for Java. Sun should also concentrate on keeping Java linked to even larger standards, such as the Object Management Group's Corba 2.0 and IIOP.   B ack to Labs   Send Us Your Feedback   Top of the Page

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