To that end, VB 2005, due in the second half of this year, will have the Edit and Continue function that has been popular
with VB 6.0 developers. This feature provides the ability to pause a program while it is executing and allows changing of
code and continuing to execute without having to stop and restart the program, according to Microsoft.
Also due in VB 2005 is a reuse feature called RegFree COM (Component Object Model), which allows developers to use existing
COM controls, such as those developed with VB 6.0, without having to register them on their machine. Developers thus can reuse
functionality while avoiding development problems that have plagued VB 6.0, according to Microsoft.
Additionally, Microsoft will continue free run-time support for VB 6.0, providing, for example, patches for security issues.
But patches will no longer be issued for issues such as problems with tools.
The drive toward unity
Sun, with JSF, has encountered similar problems transitioning developers. Sun is pushing JSF as the preferred method for Web
development but the technology must vie with other offerings such as Apache Software Foundation's Struts open source framework
for building Java apps and OpenSymphony's WebWork Java Web app dev framework.
JSF is a bit too geared toward hiding complexity, which can be a turnoff to seasoned developers, according to Jason Carreira,
a developer of the open source WebWork framework for Java.
"That's not the way hard-core developers like to work," Carreira said.
Contrasting WebWork with JSF, Carreira said WebWork has had components that can be placed on a Web page and customized by
editing a template; JSF, however, requires that a new renderer class be written to perform this function.
JSF is intended to provide unity in Web development on Java via its API, said Craig McClanahan, a senior staff engineer at
Sun who has been involved in developing both JSF and Struts.
"We want to establish an ability to have a component marketplace and in order to do that, you really need a single API that
everybody writes to," McClanahan said. Components could range from buttons and text fields to components that perform background
communications to a server for partial page refreshes.
McClanahan acknowledged that JSF is intended to attract the more corporate-type developers familiar with Visual Basic. Developers,
though, can use JSF components and maintain investments in existing applications built on other frameworks, according to McClanahan.
But new development ought to take place on JSF, since it is becoming the mainstream standard, he said.
McClanahan said he has proposed a next generation of Struts, dubbed "Shale," which is based on JSF being present in the environment.
Acknowledging resistance to JSF, McClanahan said there is always pushback on any new API.
Sun, for its part, also is looking to update the Java Community Process (JCP) for adding to the Java platform, continuing
on themes of transparency, participation, and cost efficiency that were highlighted last year.
Sun with the JCP process in the past year has reduced the time it takes to get a Java Specification Request (JSR) reviewed
from 200 days to 125 days, according to the company. Additionally, Sun is heading up a smaller percentage of JSRs than in
the past, letting others in the community take the lead.
Public feedback in the JCP also has increased, according to Sun.
For Sun and Microsoft, the success of their development technologies has translated into large communities of developers to
please. It is only natural that there will be some level of dissatisfaction. As .Net and Java move forward, there will be
developers seeking changes deemed too dramatic, such as those yearning for an open source Java, or those who find changes
too disruptive, like the Visual Basic 6.0 devotees. The road ahead will require a tough balancing act for Sun and Microsoft.
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