Wizard API updated!
Tim Boudreau has released a new version of the Swing Wizard library (version 0.997) that fixes the WizardException bug reported in JavaWorld's recent Open Source Java Project profile. The article's examples have been reworked to test out the new, improved WizardException. Thanks, Tim, for this helpful fix!
Open Source Java Projects: The Wizard API

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Microsoft's .Net impact

Find out what's behind Microsoft's so-called Java killer

By Tom Yager, InfoWorld, 09/22/00

By now you've read and heard plenty about .Net, Microsoft's new enterprise application strategy. A nuts-and-bolts rundown of .Net's features may leave you asking, "Does this have anything to do with me?" If you run Windows on desktops, .Net's impact will be minimal, and if you operate Windows servers, .Net could require making a few changes. But if you specify, design, develop, or implement enterprise software or Web applications, keep in mind that .Net drastically changes Windows' profile. You can't use the old rules to determine Windows' suitability for an enterprise task. The assumptions, design models, and development techniques that have worked since Windows NT 3.51 will soon be obsolete.

Note: For more on .Net, see this article's sidebars, "The End of Native Code?" and "The .Net Management Initiative."

TEXTBOX:

TEXTBOX_HEAD: The Bottom Line

Microsoft .Net software development kit

Business Case
Software written for .Net is inherently more scalable, distributable, and safe than Windows COM; .Net applications are much easier to build and deploy, reducing time to market and post-deployment support costs.

Technology Case
Microsoft has co-opted much of Java's appeal but in a way that allows Visual Basic, C++, and JavaScript developers to take part. Developers can focus on functional code rather than arcane facilities such as COM and the 32-bit Windows API.

Pros

  • Simplifies access to enterprise services
  • New object model coexists with COM
  • Stable and complete in prebeta form
  • Shifts responsibility away from programmers


Cons

  • Portability to Unix and Linux not announced
  • No published road map for implementation or pricing


:END_TEXTBOX

In contrast to the poorly defined Windows DNA (Distributed Internet Architecture), .Net is a tangible and easily defined software product. It is an application framework, meaning that it provides applications with the system and network services they require. The .Net services range from displaying graphical user interfaces to communicating with other servers and applications in the enterprise. It replaces Windows COM (Component Object Model) with a much simpler object model that is implemented consistently across programming languages. This makes sharing data among applications, even via the Internet, easy and transparent. .Net also substantially improves application scalability and reliability, with portability being a stated but not yet realized objective. These are clear benefits demonstrated by the prebeta edition of .Net.

We've been testing the .Net prebeta (to download, see Resources) for several weeks. Attendees of Microsoft's Professional Developers Conference (PDC) 2000 in Orlando, Fla., ourselves among them, received a stack of CDs with the .Net preview, plus a good deal of software not yet released. The combination of the .Net components adds up to a strikingly complete picture of what .Net will be on its release. With an uncharacteristically stable and feature-rich prebeta, relationships already in place with third-party tools suppliers, and even books on .Net topics, Microsoft could drive .Net to market with head-spinning speed. But until Microsoft publishes its schedule for .Net's release, it's best to plan for a debut that's months rather than years away.

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For more enterprise computing news, visit InfoWorld. Story copyright InfoWorld Media Group, Inc.

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