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Sun wins bid to keep Java from splitting in two
National Committee for Information Technology Standardization turns down request to oversee realtime Java standards
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January 15, 1999 -- Sun Microsystems Inc. has won victories on two fronts in its efforts to keep specifications for realtime extensions to Java from splintering into two standards. The prospect of a split has alarmed developers and potential users.
With appropriate extensions to Java, developers would be able to write applications that meet the very precise control requirements of realtime systems. For example, in a ground-to-air command control system, an airplane needs to respond to a command at the exact instant it is transmitted, or the intended change in course direction might not be achieved. Currently, the Java language and Java Development Kit do not offer all the controls that meet the needs of such systems.
During a week-long series of meetings, dinners, and private discussions ending today, Sun has made headway in its attempt to patch up differences with an alliance called the Java Real Time Working Group, which includes Microsoft Corp. and Hewlett-Packard Co.
And to cap the intense diplomatic efforts, a national standards body, the National Committee for Information Technology Standardization (NCITS), in a vote last night rejected the Working Group's proposal that it manage development of realtime Java standards separately from a Sun-sanctioned process.
The Working Group was formed in early November -- mainly out of frustration over Sun's control over the process for creating specifications for Java application programming interfaces (APIs) -- to hammer out Java realtime specifications under what it hoped would be a more open process than what Sun was allowing. Last month it submitted an application to work under the auspices of NCITS.
The Working Group includes heavyweights like Hewlett-Packard -- which has its own Chai implementation of the Java virtual machine (JVM) -- Microsoft, Siemens, and Rockwell Collins, as well as smaller players.
The possibility that Java might splinter into incompatible versions if two separate groups end up working on realtime extensions to the language has struck fear in users and many developers.
The Department of Defense (DOD) was so concerned about the possibility of having two different specifications of Java for realtime systems that it met with major vendors developing Java applications to express its consternation Monday.
The DOD may use Java for, among other things, realtime command-control systems for airplanes. "But having to test applications against two different sets of specs would greatly increase development costs and slow acceptance of Java" by the government and other users, according to Dr Greg Bollella, lead IBM engineer for realtime Java, who attended the emergency DOD meeting and is working closely with Sun.
The stakes for Java are high. The market for Java in realtime embedded systems is potentially vast, since billions of chips are shipped every year for devices that range from toys to telecom switches to missiles, Bollella said.
Sun defends Community Source model
In an effort to keep standards for realtime Java from splintering, Sun officials have been conferring all week with members of the Working Group at its week-long series of meetings that started Monday, trying to answer questions about its new Community Source licensing plan for Java, announced last month. Sun pulled out all the stops, hosting a dinner Tuesday night for interested Working Group members, and bringing in James Gosling, creator of Java.
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