Multiple themes cited for Java upgrade; Microsoft backs Python language Java and .Net application development are being advanced through an upgrade to Java and an implementation of the Python programming language for .Net.On the Java side of the aisle, an Early Draft Review of Java Specification Request (JSR) 270, pertaining to the upcoming “Mustang” release of Java, or Java Standard Edition (SE) 6, is available.“Mustang is still under development,” said Mark Reinhold, chief engineer for the Java 2 Platform, Standard Edition, at Sun Microsystems, in his blog. “The JSR 270 Expert Group has approved all of the features listed in the draft, and we expect to see all those features in the final release. It’s still possible, however, for a feature to be dropped if, for example, it turns out to be too difficult to implement.” Major themes of Mustang include: * Compatibility and stability. * Diagnostics, monitoring, and management. * Ease of development. * Enterprise desktop. * XML & Web services. * Transparency.Java SE 6 would serve as the basis for an upgrade to the enterprise version of Java. The final release of the Java SE 6 specification is set for mid-2006.Microsoft has released a beta version of IronPython 1.0, which is an implementation of the Python object-oriented programming language running on the .Net Framework.IronPython code can use .Net libraries while Python classes can extend .NET classes, according to a Microsoft representative. Part of Microsoft’s Shared Source Initiative for accessing Microsoft source code, IronPython is expected to available as a final product this year. Software Development