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Java grows up

Opportunities for Java API and Java Platform development, now and in the year ahead, were highlighted at this year's JavaOne

By Bill Day, JavaWorld.com, 05/01/97

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The JavaOne conference that took place in early April at the Moscone Convention Center featured keynotes, technical sessions, and a show floor packed with product demonstrations. The following are some impressions from a developer's point of view.

Roadmaps, keynotes, and technical sessions

Several roadmaps were presented during the conference. Unfortunately, most of the developers discovered that they had far too few dates. The maps were definitely not timelines; even the near-term availabilities were cloaked in "real soon now" (RSN) or "watch our Web site for more details" marketing lingo.

This did not, however, deter developers from trying to nail down specific dates. In every session I attended, developers repeatedly asked questions about release dates for APIs and products. Thankfully, there were enough new and interesting things to discuss that most of us found ourselves grudgingly willing to accept RSN. The new JDK 1.1 APIs, combined with continuing work on JavaBeans, electronic commerce and security, AWT and UI, media and communication APIs, and Java Everywhere (from personal devices to servers) gave us plenty to listen to and discuss in those three short days.

Technical content in the keynotes was disappointingly low, and almost every developer I spoke with found the technical sessions focused on delivering marketing messages rather than providing valuable engineering and development information. This was especially prevalent in the first day's tech sessions, which in many cases showed less actual code than even the most basic examples would have provided for the given topic.

JavaSoft had a tremendous opportunity to encourage industry partners, with a hand in developing portions of the Java APIs, to help present the technical sessions. Although this would have helped to demonstrate industry commitment to Java, it also may have diluted the Sun/JavaSoft-specific marketing message. Still, we already know and believe "write once, run anywhere." Let's allow industry partners to prove it to us through programming- and engineering-oriented technical presentations, rather than solely through JavaSoft's marketing initiatives.

Perhaps the saving graces for JavaSoft were the final two days of JavaOne, which were decidedly less marketing-oriented and of greater technical content. Plus, much useful technical and business information changed hands on the Java Pavilion floor and in the sideline birds-of-a-feather (BOF) sessions. As John Gage (director of Sun's science office) had encouraged in his introductions to a couple keynotes, many attendees found the most direct payoff in approaching new people and building new relationships.

JavaBeans deliver on promise of portable components

One major promise of object-oriented programming in general, and of Java in particular, has been the ability to develop interoperable, portable, and powerful software components. No language or technology, including Java as available in JDK 1.0, has been able to deliver on this. JavaBeans and JDK 1.1 do.

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