From small devices to servers, Oracle aims to make Java the top developer tool for IoT Credit: Thinkstock Oracle is renewing its push to promote Java as a platform for developers to build applications for small devices and the Internet of things, though Oracle’s Chief Java Architect Mark Reinhold said this week that Java does not yet scale well onto smaller devices. Nonetheless, the company continues to position existing Java technologies for developers to use on these systems. Peter Utzschneider, vice president of Java product management at Oracle, detailed the company’s efforts at the JavaOne conference in San Francisco. Specifically, the company is promoting parity between Java ME (Micro Edition) 8 and SE (Standard Edition) 8. Developers leveraging these platforms can apply their skills from very small devices up to servers, he said. “This is a very large milestone and a big step forward for us,” said Utzschneider. Oracle’s Java Embedded platform features SE Embedded, for embedded systems development, and ME Embedded, which is optimized for small devices. “From a language perspective, Java ME 8 is on parity with SE 8 now, with a few exceptions like lambdas,” said Utzschneider. Lambdas are featured in SE 8. “But the platform itself does have common tooling.” The company also announced Java ME Embedded 8.1 early access, featuring support for ARM Cortex M3/M4 microcontrollers and a developer preview for Freescale FRDM K64 boards with mbed support. Updated Raspberry Pi support is featured as well. The mbed initiative, which is in its early stages and is sponsored by ARM, is intended to reduce fragmentation in embedded devices, said Utzschneider. “Embedded development for many years had too many implementations, all of them different with no commonality.” The Eclipse Foundation has also played a part, unveiling its Open IoT Stack for Java this week. Software DevelopmentJavaDevelopment ToolsTechnology Industry