InformationWeek
Defining The Business Value Of Technology
December 7, 1998
Application Development: Java Momentum Builds|
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By Bob Violino, Jennifer Mateyaschuk and Martin J. Garvey
ava, the programming language long on promise but short on experience, is approaching a new
threshold: its widespread use in mainstream business operations. Companies that once limited
Java to pilot programs, Web sites, and intranet applications are using the language for
applications central to their business. A wave of Java products about to be released, including
important upgrades from Sun Microsystems and IBM, should hasten the trend.After a year of slow but steady progress, punctuated by Sun's lawsuit over Microsoft's Java implementation and questions about Java's performance and portability, the language is ending 1998 on a high note. Last month, Sun won a preliminary injunction in its suit, forcing Microsoft, at least temporarily, to make its Java-based products compliant with Sun's Java Native Interface. Soon after, as part of America Online's proposed acquisition of Netscape Communications, AOL agreed to use Java to develop devices that access AOL's network.
But the real proof of Java's momentum is in the programming. Attracted by the language's platform independence and object capabilities, a growing number of companies are using it to develop core applications more quickly and at lower cost. According to a recent survey by InformationWeek Research, Java is on track to become the most widely used language for custom development within two years (see chart). "Java is taking its place as a generalized development language," says Dan Kara, chief technology officer at Intermedia Group, a research and consulting firm. "People are realizing it's very effective for building distributed applications."
The Sabre Group, for example, has created a Java version of its reservation system software that's helping Sabre reach an underserved market of small travel agencies and suppliers. Bankers Trust Co. is making Java the core programming language for future financial services. And Federal Express is using Java to write apps that manage flight and trucking schedules, determine the availability of planes and trucks, and track packages.
"It's our primary development language for new applications," says Robert Carter, chief technology officer at FDX Corp., the Memphis, Tenn., holding company that owns Federal Express. "A year ago, we said, 'This has promise, but it's not ready for prime time.' Now we're certain that it has become much more viable as an enterprise development environment."
Another step in that direction will come this week when Sun launches a much anticipated upgrade to its Java Developer Kit. JDK 1.2 will include an improved graphical interface; integrated JavaBeans (prebuilt components that make writing applications more efficient); an upgraded Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) interface for better database performance; security that gives administrators more control in setting restrictions; and the ability to swap in new virtual machines.
Sun has also rewritten the language and tuned the Java libraries. The result of all the changes: Some Java operations on the server run up to 50% faster, according to Sun.
The improvements will help quiet Java critics, says George Paolini, Sun's Java software VP of marketing. "Our detractors have said for a year and a half that portability doesn't matter, that it's not worth sacrificing performance," he says. "We can now demonstrate that you don't sacrifice performance for portability."
Also this week, IBM is expected to introduce new versions of its Java application server and development tools. IBM's Websphere Application Server 2.0, which lets developers create and run Java applets on servers, features improved performance on Windows NT and added functionality for linking to back-end systems. An advanced edition supports Enterprise JavaBeans, Sun's component model for building distributed Java applications. The upgraded tools, VisualAge for Java 2.1, also include EJB support.
Norwest Mortgage Inc. uses Websphere 1.1 to support a recently deployed intranet self-service pricing engine that lets about 1,000 mortgage brokers access mortgage rates based on varying risk factors. "Java has not hit our core business processes yet," says David Rae, a Norwest systems architect. "But it's moving in that direction."
Analysts say Enterprise JavaBeans will make it easier for programmers to develop sophisticated server applications. Bluestone Software, Information Builders, and Secant Technologies this week will announce EJB servers.
Java support is showing up in a variety of server platforms. Oracle is about to ship Oracle8i, the first version of its database to come with a Java virtual machine. Intentia International, a Swedish supplier of enterprise resource planning software, has developed a Java version of its ERP suite that runs on IBM's AS/400. And SAP executives last week said they will give customers a choice of using SAP's own programming language or Java for server development, though they gave no time frame.
Signs Of Maturity
The flurry of new products is evidence Java is maturing, says Keith Cleveland, first VP of
enterprise application services at Countrywide Home Loans in Calabasas, Calif. Cleveland says
JavaBeans can be used to "encapsulate business logic from legacy data and develop new
applications," which is important when moving from an older IT architecture to a new one.
Bank One Corp., the bank with $240 billion in assets formed in October by the merger of First Chicago NBD and BancOne Corp., is using Java for that purpose. This month, Bank One reaches the halfway point in extending a Java-based sales and marketing application to more than 2,500 employees. First Chicago began rolling out the app in January, before the merger, to replace a client-server application that required software maintenance on distributed servers and desktop PCs. With the Java app, the staff maintains one version of the software on a central server, and users merely download an applet. "We have completely simplified the distribution issue," says Raymond Demich, VP of corporate bank sales and marketing systems at Bank One.
That ease of access means First Chicago can extend the Java app to BancOne users. "As long as they are connected to our wide area network and have a browser, they can use this application from day one," Demich says.
FDX is also using Java as part of a move to Internet computing. In addition to the scheduling and tracking applications, FDX is using Java to develop Internet-based applications for a new generation of handheld computers for its couriers, giving them faster access to Web content, E-mail, and reference materials. "This is all critical stuff. It's the heart of our operations," Carter says.
Sabre, a $1.8 billion travel information systems company, will release in February the second iteration of its Sabre Net Platform, a Java version of its reservation system software. The first version, introduced in April, lets travel agents download an applet that mimics a mainframe terminal and connects to the Sabre system via the Internet. The second version will add a graphical interface that lets small travel suppliers, such as limousine services, confirm a booking with a few clicks of a mouse, says Bob Offutt, VP of research and development at Sabre Labs, which developed the platform.
Bankers Trust in New York is relying on Java as the core programming language for financial services it offers over the Internet, says Paul Urban, the bank's VP of enterprise and Internet reporting. Urban says Java is reaching critical mass, particularly because of the new functionality in JDK 1.2.
Next year, Bankers Trust plans to roll out Java-based apps that let clients analyze their investment portfolios. Later, the company plans to introduce Java-based transaction services for trades.
But Java development isn't without its hitches. The Home Depot, one of the first companies to commit to a significant Java development project when it began rolling out applications to more than 700 stores a year ago, has experienced "bumps" along the way, says VP of IS Mike Anderson. For instance, Home Depot had to write a security layer for its applications because that capability wasn't available from Java vendors. And the learning curve for Java can be steep. Says Sabre's Offutt, "We had the best and brightest from Sun to help us."
The debate continues over just how portable Java apps really are. The goal is to be able to use Java to write an application once and run it "anywhere," but the reality is that platform-specific tuning is sometimes required. The controversy played out in federal court last week, as a Microsoft lawyer sparred with Sun VP and Java creator James Gosling in the Microsoft antitrust trial (see story, p. 40).
Indeed, some analysts say that even with JDK 1.2's many improvements, Java is still not suited for heavy-duty transaction processing and needs tighter security. "To some extent, it's still immature and evolving," says Judith Hurwitz, president of Hurwitz Group, a technology consulting firm in Framingham, Mass. Bank One's Demich sees room for improvement in Java debuggers and testing tools and says Java still needs to run faster on client machines.
Benefits Beat Drawbacks
But many companies are willing to deal with the drawbacks. The Federal Aviation Administration
was drawn to Java's cross-platform flexibility. "We have so many different types of machines in
use. We can't always rely on everyone having the same platform," says Nick Xidis,
telecommunications project manager with the FAA. "Java doesn't care if you have Windows, Mac,
or Unix. Whatever system you have, you can run the program."
The FAA is using GemStone Systems' Java-based GemStone/J application server to create an application that lets employees electronically order communications services available on its internal telecom system. Java's use of objects allows the FAA to reuse components, resulting in shorter turnaround times. "We're reusing 50% to 80% of the code we've already written for upgrades," Xidis says.
The FAA's application took nine months to develop, but software reuse is expected to cut the next stage of the project to only three months. "Java fundamentally changes the whole development cycle," says Xidis.
Home Depot is also saving money on development and support. But there may be an even bigger benefit. "I don't have to worry about the technology," says Anderson. "And that allows me to concentrate on the business."
With additional reporting by Justin Hibbard, Mary Hayes, and Beth
Davis
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