Java&#39;s &#39;Mustang&#39; Out of the Gate
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Sun Microsystems (Quote, Chart) got the jump on the next generation of Java with an early release of its next Java 2 Standard Edition (J2SE).
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Looking to get the most out of multi-core processors, a European-driven effort to build a framework for Java-based, real-time applications on modern multi-core chips and parallel processor systems is being announced Tuesday.Called the Java Environment for Parallel Real-time Development, or JEOPARD, the project is being underwritten by the European Commission (EC) to the tune of more than $4.9 million (3.3 million Euros), said The Open Group, which is participating in the project.The objective is to provide tools for platform-independent development of predictable systems that make use of symmetric multiprocessing multi-core platforms and field programmable gate array components, Open Group said. Tools plan would enhance software productivity and reusability by extending processor technology established on desktop systems for the needs of multi-core embedded systems."If you go out and buy a laptop or server, you get four-core processors or whatever. The way people program both applications and OSes hasn't really taken full advantage of the capabilities of these multi-core processors," said Dave Lounsbury, vice president for government services at The Open Group. "This is a hot topic. I think everybody recognizes there are some limitations right now," in making use of multi-core systems, he said.JEOPARD will research how to build APIs, OS extensions and language support for multi-core processors, with a special emphasis on embedded systems, Lounsbury said.The project will delve into extensions to handle different memory configurations. Situations will be considered in which there is not full symmetry, such as when a processor cannot access all parts of memory or chips are not using the same clock, said Lounsbury. These considerations are important because of constraints in memory bandwidth. Languages and operating systems can perform optimizations to address this."The idea here is that we'll see the creation of new sets of tools, whether it's extensions to OSes or new sets of compilers or languages like Java that will bring some of these new capabilities," Lounsbury said.While the project is based around Java, concepts from it could be made to work in other environments, he said. Asked when there might be results from JEOPARD, Lounsbury said the effort is a three-year EC program.Chip vendors could be expected to look closely at the project and incorporate results into their next generations of chips.Contributions from JEOPARD will be to be made to the RTSJ (Real-Time Specification for Java), which focuses on development of portable software in the multi-core embedded space, The Open Group said. Also, JEOPARD will feature development of a platform-independent software development interface for real-time multi-core systems based on RTSJ and Safety-Critical Java. RTSJ is the subject of Java Specification Requests 1 and 282 in the Java Community Process, while Safety-Critical Java is covered in JSR 302.Also participating in JEOPARD are the University of York, FZI, Vienna University of Technology, and the Technical University of Cluj-Napoca. Other participants include industrial manufacturers EADS, RadioLabs, and SkySoft and two embedded systems technology suppliers, aicas and Sysgo.In another effort pertaining to development for multi-core chips, RapidMind in November announced RapidMind Multi-core Development Platform v.30, which seeks to help developers build for these processors.
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Hardware expected to begin selling next year is designed to make it faster and more efficient to run Java programs.
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An implementation of the famous Snake game written for MS-DOS in Pascal. This is a project from my early days of programming which I wish to update and develop as it's a bit rough around the edges and relies on libraries more than it really should. Othe   Although this program is in version 2, I have had it since long before my SourceForge.net days and have just decided to take another look at it after 6 years on the shelf.
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Preview two Oracle has come a step closer to releasing the next version of its popular Java integrated development environment (IDE), by posting a second technology preview.â¦
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The Story: Java, the oldest new programming language around, is falling out of favor with developers. When it comes to developing the increasingly common rich Internet applications, Java is losing ground to Ruby on Rails, PHP, AJAX and other cool new languages. And there are even reports that Microsoft?s .Net, of all things, is pushing Java out of the enterprise. Makes you wonder whether Sun was smart to change its stock-ticker code to JAVA last summer.[ Slideshow: 2007's top underreported tech stories ]                                                    Simply put, developers are saying that Java slows them down. ?There were big promises that Java would solve incompatibility problems [across platforms]. But now there are different versions and different downloads, creating complications,? says Peter Thoneny, CEO of Twiki.net, which produces a certified version of the open source Twiki wiki-platform software. ?It has not gotten easier. It?s more complicated,? concurs Ofer Ronen, CEO of Sendori, which routes domain traffic to online advertisers and ad networks. Sendori has moved to Ruby on Rails. Ronen says Ruby offers pre-built structures ? say, a shopping cart for an e-commerce site ? that you?d have to code from the ground up using Java.Another area of weakness is the development of mobile applications. Java?s UI capabilities and its memory footprint simply don?t measure up, says Samir Shah, CEO of software testing provider Zephyr. No wonder the mobile edition of Java has all but disappeared, and no wonder Google is creating its own version (Android).These weaknesses are having a real effect. Late last month, Info-Tech Research Group said its survey of 1,850 businesses found .Net the choice over Java among businesses of all sizes and industries, thanks to its promotion via Visual Studio and SharePoint. Microsoft is driving uptake of the .Net platform at the expense of Java," says George Goodall, a senior research analyst at Info-Tech.One bit of good news: developers and analysts agree that Java is alive and well for internally developed enterprise apps. ?On the back end, there is still a substantial amount of infrastructure available that makes Java a very strong contender,? says Zephyr?s Shah.The Bottom Line: Now that Java is no longer the unchallenged champ for Internet-delivered apps, it makes sense for companies to find programmers who are skilled in the new languages. If you?re a Java developer, now?s the time to invest in new skills.Complete list of 2007 underreported stories: 1.? Java is becoming the new Cobol 2.? Sun Microsystems is back in the game 3.? Hackers take aim at Mac OS X 4.? There are some threats you can worry less about 5.? Companies may have found a way around H-1B visa limits 6.? Open source?s new commercial strategy 7.? End-to-end Ethernet finally arrives 8.? Blade servers arrive for the masses 9.? BI is dead; long live BI 10. Balance of power shifts to software buyers
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Tony Bibbs, in the wake of last week's surprise from Microsoft to Yahoo, has posted a few of his thoughts on the matter.   I woke up this morning to the news of a $44 billion buy-out offer from Microsoft for Yahoo!. This is being covered from all angles in various tech sites like Slashdot but I think the one angle I haven't seen yet is what does this mean for PHP?   He mentions the work that Microsoft and Zend have done to push PHP support on the OS (check out this email too) and he wonders what the final impact of it all could mean for the language - will things change drastically if Microsoft becomes a major player in the PHP world or would they stay behind the scenes and give the community the support it might need.
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NetBeans or bust Sun Microsystems is finally giving up building its own Java integrated tools suites after a long and painful slog.â¦
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There&#39;s a new version of Java and Sun describes it as the most significant update ever to the platform-neutral programming language.
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A new push is on for a smarter, less finicky Java mobile architecture -- with the goal of making it easier for Java/J2ME architects and devs to design, deploy, develop and manage mobile apps.
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Free and independent Ajax developers are turning away from commercial development tools and opting for free, open source alternatives.â¦
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Perhaps it isn&#39;t quite as surprising as if Ford Motor Co. suddenly decided to sell the Mustang sports car brand to Hyundai Corp.
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'Like buying a BMW and putting a Ford engine in it' For all you car aficionados out there, how's this for an operating system analogy from PC World?â¦
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'Filthy rich internet applications' Sun has given the world a (slightly) better idea of what's on the way from client-side Java.â¦
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Sun Microsystems and several other vendors on Wednesday will release an early draft of a specification intended to ease integration of Java-based systems, but IBM and BEA Systems have dropped out of participation in the effort.
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Sun left to think about what it's done Just in IBM and Cray have come out as the big winners in DARPA's massive supercomputing contest, leaving Sun Microsystems as the unlucky loser.â¦
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I think I've mentioned this before but on Saturday Feb 12th I'll be talking  about the Jakarta FeedParser at CodeCon  in San Francisco.  I published an outline  of the talk on the FeedParser wiki.  I'm hoping to have a 0.5 release done before then and havepotentially another suprise in the works.