Paul Krill
Editor at Large

Sun readies Java development initiative

news
Jan 5, 20041 min

Analyst expects effort to eliminate fragmentation

Sun Microsystems on Tuesday plans to announce an effort to boost Java tools standards development and interaction.

A Sun representative said the effort pertained to a Java tools community, albeit one that would not be a competitor to the IBM-led Eclipse initiative. Sun officials declined further comment.

Analyst Rikki Kirzner, research director at IDC, said that based on research she has done, she expects Sun to provide details on an effort to boost interoperability between interactive development environments based on Java, in the wake of Sun’s decision not to participate in Eclipse.

“The high-level purpose of this is to try to eliminate the fragmentation in the Java tools market so that people can get their tools to interoperate better,” Kirzner said. It has been difficult to move from one Java IDE to another, she said.

“Eclipse did solve the problem, but Sun never joined it,” she said.

Success of the effort will depend on which companies are participating, Kirzner said.

BEA Systems, while declining to comment on specific details of the announcement, said Monday that it would agree to be interviewed about the plan on Tuesday. Many vendors are involved in the initiative, BEA acknowledged.

Paul Krill

Paul Krill is editor at large at InfoWorld. Paul has been covering computer technology as a news and feature reporter for more than 35 years, including 30 years at InfoWorld. He has specialized in coverage of software development tools and technologies since the 1990s, and he continues to lead InfoWorld’s news coverage of software development platforms including Java and .NET and programming languages including JavaScript, TypeScript, PHP, Python, Ruby, Rust, and Go. Long trusted as a reporter who prioritizes accuracy, integrity, and the best interests of readers, Paul is sought out by technology companies and industry organizations who want to reach InfoWorld’s audience of software developers and other information technology professionals. Paul has won a “Best Technology News Coverage” award from IDG.

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