IBM and BEA Systems last week disclosed that they are working jointly on three new specifications for the Java platform.
The new specifications — Service Data Objects, Work Manager for Application Servers, and Timer for Applications Servers — are all designed to increase much-needed application portability between IBM’s WebSphere and BEA’s WebLogic application servers.
“We both have been innovating in a number of areas around Java APIs, and developers have been looking for commonality.,” said Scott Dietzen, CTO of BTA.
Executives at both companies said they do not expect to deliver products that take advantage of the new specifications for about a year; they are releasing the necessary technical information now so that developers have time to digest it.
Sun Microsystems and Oracle, however, have yet to pledge support for the proposed standards. Some observers believe IBM and BEA will ruffle some feathers because the new standards should go first through the Java Community Process (JCP).
“It will be interesting to see how this is perceived in the context of it being a departure from the Java Community Process. I think there may be some vendors who will be unhappy with this,” said Stephen O’Grady, a senior analyst at RedMonk.
Dietzen said the companies plan to formally present the proposed specifications, which will be royalty free, to the JCP.
Perhaps the most important of the three standards is Service Data Objects. It provides a unifying programming model for data from heterogeneous data sources, such as relational databases and Web services. It offers a simpler programming model and supports best-practice application design patterns.
“This is the one that will address a difficult problem the object-oriented world has been dealing with for some time. We have spent years building different frameworks that all continue to evolve. It is a significant piece of work that will help J2EE standards and our users,” said Rod Smith, vice president of IBM’s Internet and emerging technologies.
The Work Manager for Application Servers supports concurrent execution of work items. It enables J2EE-based applications, including servlets and EJBs to better schedule multiple work items to be carried out simultaneously for increased throughput and application response time.
The Timer for Applications Servers also offers a simpler API but for setting timers in an application server-supported way. This makes it possible for J2EE-based applications to schedule future timer notifications and also to receive those notifications.
Also last week, in a separate development related to Java, a group headed by Oracle and Sun formed the JTC (Java Tools Community) whose charter is to make Java more interoperable through tool frameworks and open standards. Just as Oracle and Sun have yet to endorse the IBM-BEA Java standards, IBM and BEA have not advocated the JTC.
“We are still in the evaluation phase. We will probably make a decision on that soon. I think the effort we [IBM and BEA] have underway now is more significant for Java and the J2EE standard,” Smith said.
Read more about software development in InfoWorld's Developer World Channel.
Get the independent advice and expertise you need to support a virtual workforce.
The increase in Linux popularity has increased the frequency and sophistication of malware attacks. Read this 2 page white paper now to learn how you can protect your Linux environment with real-time protection that is certified by all major Linux vendors.
Download now »
Ensuring acceptable application delivery will become even more difficult over the next few years. As a result, IT organizations need to ensure that the approach that they take to resolving the current application delivery challenges can scale to support the emerging challenges. This handbook elaborates on the key tasks associated with planning, optimization, management and control and provides decision criteria to help IT organizations choose appropriate solutions.
Download now »
A common misconception is that mid-range storage requirements are dramatically different than that of a larger enterprise. Mid-range storage users may require less capacity, but they have similar functionality and management requirements. This ESG paper examines mid-range storage needs and reviews a new solution that adjusts size while retaining value, performance and functionality.
Download now »
Recommend This
