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Java -- Cappuccino for the corporate programmer?

Or, a cup of joe for the big and slow

By Frank Greco, JavaWorld.com, 05/01/96

For years, large companies have realized that the corporate "network" is the artery that carries the lifeblood of the business. Whether it's operating on a hulking, creaking mainframe or stitching together a bazillion PCs and Sun workstations throughout the company, information flow rules. For many corporations, the Network is the Company.

Without a healthy corporate network, orders are not taken, inventory is not watched, software is not deployed properly, customers are not kept satisfied, and basically, money is not made. Diagnoses to reduce this network arteriosclerosis have information staffs constantly injecting new methodologies to improve the well-being of the enterprise.

How do we keep the corporation in the pink and out of the red? Time to call Java/Intranet-911.

Is Java a cure?

With the onslaught of Java-animated tooth fairies, 3-D boxing lizards, and funky cat bands in Java applets, it's clear that Java is a great programming language for leveraging the whiz-bang of the Internet. But is it a good technology choice for corporate applications where network computing is critical? Let's answer that question by matching up Java's capabilities against a list of the key issues for corporate IT.

• Rapid application development
• Effective and efficient applications
• Program and programmer portability
• Development costs
• Maintenance and support
• Technical training

Rapid application development

Years ago, it was projected that programmers would soon be moot. Pure software program generators would totally eliminate the human program generators and the world would be a better place. Unfortunately this belief did not account for an accelerating demand for variable types of quality software. However, object technology soon put a spin on program generators by adopting a "generated-part-of-a-program" model. Previously generated base parts of a program (that is, "objects") can now be connected together to provide some utility for a user.

The C++ programming language tried to be such a tool, but really didn't fulfill the promise. Visual Basic and NEXTSTEP, regardless of religious preferences, were more indicative of the power of active objects. Java facilitates the creation of similar innovative application-development environments by also being flexible, powerful, and effective, and adds a few spins of its own. Corporate programmers now have beta-quality tools such as SunSoft's Java Workshop, Borland's Java environment, Symantec's Cafe, RogueWave's Jfactory, and soon, more sophisticated Javanese tools like Netcode and FutureTense (see the Resources section at the end of this article for links to these and other relevant Web sites). Given the progression of Java development environments, I would imagine that a NEXTSTEP-like rapid application development environment for Java is not that far away. So much for Steve Job's advantage. (Weep not for Steve: He still has Pixar.)