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Sun and Microsoft offer judge differing lessons on Java

Bud Tribble and Greg DeMichillie put slide projector, video footage, and white board to use in making their cases before Ronald Whyte

By James Niccolai, IDG News Service, 09/01/98

August 31, 1998 -- In San Jose, CA, today Sun Microsystems Inc. and Microsoft Corp. each offered US District Court Judge Ronald Whyte a tutorial on Java technology, and in the process presented contrasting opinions about what Java is and how it should best be used.

The two-hour presentations were designed to bring Whyte up to speed on Java in advance of legal hearings set to begin this month in Sun's lawsuit charging Microsoft with violating its Java licensing contract.

Sun's point of view

Sun's presentation stressed the importance of developing Java products that comply with specifications laid out by Sun in its Java licensing contract. Microsoft has released products that do not conform to those standards, compromising Java's ability to create programs that run on any operating system, Bud Tribble, vice president of architecture and technology for Sun's embedded systems group, told the court.

Microsoft's turn

In its tutorial, Microsoft emphasized what it characterized as shortcomings in Sun's Java technology, and defended its right to enhance its products in a way that allows developers to put more functionality into the Java programs they build.

"The picture is correct, but not complete," Greg DeMichillie, program manager for Microsoft's Visual J++ Java development tool, said of Tribble's presentation.

Sun's Java specification allows software developers to take advantage only of features common to all operating systems, DeMichillie said. The enhancements Microsoft has made to Visual J++ allow developers to make use of advanced features in Windows -- like its support for numerous fonts or for playing DVDs (digital video disks), he said.

The details of Visual J++ and JNI

Microsoft's demonstration today is designed to show that Visual J++ is not a threat to Java's cross-platform development capabilities.

Visual J++ works in two modes: one that allows developers to build Java applets that run on any operating system, and another mode for creating applets that take advantage of features specific to Windows operating systems, such as its multiple font types and support for certain hardware products, Nielsen said.

Nielsen acknowledged that applets built using J++ in Windows-specific mode will not run on other operating systems. "If you're using Windows-specific features, (the applet) won't run on another platform," he said.

But because developers can use the same tool kit to build a cross-platform version of the applet, it does not threaten Java's cross-platform ability, Nielson said.

Microsoft supports Java's cross-platform compatibility, and expects developers to use the software tool to create both "generic" and Windows-specific applets, he said.

Sun has filed for a preliminary injunction requiring Microsoft to alter the Java products it ships so that they comply with its specifications for Java. Hearings about the that injunction are set to begin September 8.

Microsoft says all the Java products it ships and that were specified by Sun in its Java licensing agreement pass muster with Sun's Java compatibility tests. Windows 98 will run Java applets built using Sun's own Java tools, and Microsoft's Java tools can be used to develop applets that will run on any operating system that has a Java virtual machine that conforms to Sun's specifications.

The IDG News Service is a Network World affiliate.

 

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