Company claims Java 2 with the HotSpot software out-paces speediest pre-Java 2 April 27, 1999 — Sun Microsystems this week will post the finished version of its long-awaited HotSpot Java performance software, which company officials claim doubles the performance of the recently delivered Java 2 platform.The HotSpot Performance Engine release, announced Tuesday in Paris, follows a series of third-party introductions of performance-boosting Java virtual machines (JVMs) for earlier, pre-Java 2, Java platforms. The majority of Java implementations in use are pre-Java 2. Java 2, previously referred to as Java Development Kit 1.2, was unveiled this past winter.Sun’s HotSpot software includes so-called adaptive compiler technology, which scans code on the fly and compiles only those sections that are most critical for performance, according to platform marketing manager Gina Centoni. The HotSpot Performance Engine also provides improved garbage collection, and better synchronization of multiple program threads, says Centoni.Looking to spur adoption of the latest Java platform, Sun officials cited benchmarks showing Java 2 with the HotSpot software out-pacing the speediest of the pre-Java 2 virtual machines — IBM’s Java 1.1.7-level JVM.On tap for July is the beta test version of HotSpot 2.0, which the officials claimed sports an additional 30-percent performance increase. Sun this Friday will post the HotSpot software, which is free to end users and ISVs, but which entails royalty payments for vendors who include it in operating systems, according to the officials. Java