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Java in the real world

Java is changing the way companies market products on the Internet

By Erica Liederman, JavaWorld.com, 03/15/96

There are, however, two companies that stand out for creating new marketing tools using the WWW without falling into the same trap. Using Java, CADIS Inc. and the Internet Shopping Network (ISN) each have created new ways to do business. CADIS' Krakatoa application lets companies such as National Semiconductor publish product information over the Web and provide interactive access to up-to-date data. ISN has created a Java application designed to allow its subscribers -- up to 250 of them simultaneously -- to bid on goods in a real- time interactive auction.

CADIS Krakatoa simplifies part picking

CADIS Inc. was founded in 1991 to develop and market interactive search and retrieval technologies. The company's first product, CADIS-PMX, is a search engine that can be applied to a corporation's parts database. It uses a classification-tree hierarchy based on part attributes rather than part numbers and employs a standard classification structure designed by CADIS for mechanical and electrical parts.

With the introduction of Java, however, the model for search and retrieval of product information changed.

"In one fell swoop, Java eliminated the single biggest obstacle to new software development and implementation," says Janet Eden-Harris, director of business development for CADIS. "True platform independence is the most important change in programming in the last 15 years.

"Before, every time you wanted a new platform to support your software, the combinations for which you had to perform regression testing grew exponentially," explains Eden-Harris. "Using Java, all clients are supported, which means that you can do business on the Web, no matter what kind of computer your customers have sitting on their desks."

CADIS first demonstrated the Krakatoa search engine in December of 1995 at the International World Wide Web Conference in Boston, using data from licensee National Semiconductor Corp (NSC). The integrated circuit manufacturer uses Krakatoa to offer its customers interactive access to information about 30,000 NSC products from its home page.

CADIS claims Krakatoa is the first large-scale business application built using Java. It is named for the volcanic island between Sumatra and Java whose eruption in 1883 was said to have caused a change in the world climate that lasted for several decades. To create the working prototype, CADIS developed both the client application in Java and the Java Remote Procedure Calls so that information from the NSC Web server can be viewed by clients in real time as it is updated.

Krakatoa acts as a front end to any parts database or knowledge base. In NSC's case, the database was an Oracle database designed specifically for managing documents. When a user goes to the NSC Web site and searches the parts knowledge base, the client invokes the Krakatoa applet. Users interact with the parts knowledge base using Krakatoa in a Java runtime environment such as HotJava or Netscape 2.0. They navigate down the parts schema using parameters such as package type and price range. A series of iterative queries narrows the search until the exact part is identified.