Please feel free to forward this newsletter to as many friends as possible. I have a personal goal of having one million readers. I can achieve it with your help.
the Software View: Java's past, present, and future: "How Microsoft impacted Java's past, how Sun Microsystems is shaping Java's present, and how we, as individual software developers, can affect Java's future." (A keynote address I gave at the Java '98 strategic conference in London, England.)
Welcome back, gentle readers. Your intrepid reporter and faithful correspondent was willing to fly half way around the world to the United Kingdom just to return with acceptable content for this episode of the Software View!
For those of you with Internet and World Wide Web access and a Netscape Navigator web browser, please point your browser to:
http://www.softwareview.com/
Scroll down the page and you will spy a link entitled, "Current views web log (fresh news daily! Click reload, clear the browser cache)" The daily news page is also known as a "web log". It is en vogue and the fashion of these days to call it that. Click on the link, click "reload" on your browser or clear your browser cache to ensure that you always receive the freshest, hottest daily news concerning Java, Linux, XML, and the software industry! The link never changes, but I will be updating the HTML file page behind it every day. Please, do take a gander at it every day.
Also, some important news, gentle readers. the Software View is now an Associate Internet World Wide Web site of Amazon.com. I would like to extend my sincere, heartfelt gratitude and thanks for your patronage. I am offering links to books, et cetera that you can purchase from my web site. I would greatly appreciate it if you would purchase software industry books from my web site. Help support my newsletter and web site by purchasing items from Amazon.com from my web site. Here is the URL (Uniform Resource Locator):
Click here
Now, dear readers, on with this week's episode of the Software View!
The following trivial JavaTM implementation of factorial fails under the just-in-time (JIT) compiler from Microsoft that's part of Internet Explorer 4.0:
public class Fact {
public static int fact(int x) {
if (x == 0) {
return 1;
} else {
return(x * fact(x + (-1)));
}
}
public static void main(String [] args) {
System.out.println(fact(5));
}
}
According to jview (Microsoft's command-line just-in-time compiler (JIT)), factorial 5 is 16. Why is factorial 5 = 16? Answer: because
Microsoft seems to have confused addition with multiplication. Such an easy mistake to make. Using Sun Microsystems' Java development kit (JDK) 1.1.7a and Microsoft's latest virtual machine/software development kit ...16 = 5 + 4 + 3 + 2 + 1 + 1
A book called The Tao of Programming by Geoffrey James.C:>jvc Fact C:>jview Fact 16 // Microsoft is wrong! C:>java Fact 120 C:>jvc /g Fact // no optimizations C:>jview Fact 120 C:>java Fact 120 C:>javac Fact.java C:>jview Fact 120 C:>java Fact 120 C:>javac -O Fact.java // optimizations on C:>jview Fact 55 // Microsoft is wrong! C:>java Fact 120
The Tao gave birth to machine language. Machine language gave birth to the assembler. The assembler gave birth to the compiler. Now there are ten thousand languages. Each language has it's own purpose, however humble. Each language expresses the yin and yang of software. Each language has its place within the Tao. But do not program in COBOL if you can avoid it.
Meanwhile, at the landmark Microsoft antitrust lawsuit, among the few light moments during this mostly technical discussion was some repartee over definitions, such as "co-mingling," which the United States Department of Justice witness Glenn Weadock used to describe Internet browser and operating system integration. Microsoft's lawyer Richard Pepperman asked him, "Didn't you decide to use this term because it sounds more perditious?" Weadock replied: "No, I can think of some delightful examples of co-mingling." To which Pepperman responded: "I won't touch that."
On page 53 of the 9th of November issue of Interactive Week, NetRatings Vice President Tim Meadows ran across an ad for a company called ViaGrafix. Viagrafix ... is that a solution to a problem that doesn't want to be fixed? Asks Tim: "Maybe it's the pill that Mrs. Dole takes?" The JacoByte wonders if that's a Democrat sneering.
Microsoft stacked the front of its massive Comdex 1998 booth with kiosks that promised a unique Web experience but mainly delivered Microsoft product info - oh joy! - only after you gave away personal information (gentle readers, this is not advised).
Here is a way to get rid of those pesky Microsoft Windows desktop personal computer operating systems. The following uniform resource locator (URL) works best using Internet Explorer 4.0 or later.
Click here
from David Letterman: Top Ten Ways to Irritate Bill Gates
10. Steal his "nerd boy" license plate.
9. Accuse him of sexually harassing your laser jet printer.
8. Beat his high score on Tetris.
7. Ask him if they caught the guy who did that to his hair.
6. Tell him you heard he's "microsoft".
5. Leave his Spock ears on your dashboard so they melt.
4. Let the air out of the tires on the Gatesmobile.
3. Drop hints that Oprah's richer than he is.
2. WWW him right in the dot-com.
1. Two words: dork tax.
Recently, America Online announced that they would acquire Netscape in a business deal valued at $4.2 billion United States dollars. For each share, Netscape stock holders will receive 0.45 America Online common stock in kind. Sun Microsystems profited the most from this transaction. Not only do they receive Netscape's enterprise software business, but they also secured a sweet heart deal. America Online agreed to purchase $500 million worth of Sun hardware and software as part of the deal. A joke traversing the Internet and World Wide Web is that when Sun was looking to acquire Apple Computer Corporation, the new company would be called "Snapple". Now, the joke is that this Sun-Netscape-America Online triumvirate will be called "Snowball".
Scott McNealy, the Chairman of the Board, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Sun Microsystems, Incorporated offered the Top Ten reasons why Netscape should have bought America Online instead. They are:
10. The first three are Microsoft bashing, so I was told I can't say those.
7. You now have to wear ties when you go to the head office!
6. No really good software comes out of Washington (D.C. or state).
5. Bark (Netscape chief executive Jim Barksdale) was a better witness than David Colburn, AOL's senior vice president of business affairs, at the Microsoft antitrust trial in Washington.
4. Can you imagine Netscape executive vice president Mike Homer, who runs Netcenter, running AOL.com? Scary!
3. Barksdale wouldn't be able to work on his golf games and maybe beat me someday. Ah, no chance anyway.
2. Now I have to get my wife to switch back to AOL.
1. Barksdale, a Southerner, would change the greeting to "Y'all got mail."
Please take a peek at this hilarious URL which informs women that the best place to pick up men are at open source software meetings. "But you'll want to stay away from men who use proprietary software. Acceptance of proprietary licenses will, in the long run, break a man's spirit and you'll either end up with an underperformer or he'll turn really bitter and mean, which you don't want if you're going to try to raise a family with him. So that means your Ernest is a self-respecting person who uses free software."
Click here
Please take a gander at this side-splitting parody of the latest in a series of O'REILLY books. O'REILLY books are well known for their distinctive look and feel and titles concerning open source software.
Click here
Click here
Here is another quite humorous O'REILLY book parody. This book makes light of Microsoft's Visual J++ integrated development environment (IDE), their virtual machine, and their software developer's kit. All of which, Microsoft purports to be completely compatible with Sun Microsystems' true Java software technology platform.
Click here
Getting back to my trip to the Java '98 strategic conference in the United Kingdom. I took the ten hour British Airways flight. I enjoyed their food, but the very best airline that I have ever flown on was the exceedingly elegant Cathay Pacific. I flew on Cathay when I took a business trip to the Philippines.
Here are the things that I dislike about the United Kingdom:
Here are the things that I like about Europe:
On the night of the 25th of November of 1998, the night prior to the Java '98 strategic conference, the Java Forum sponsored a dinner that gathered all the conference keynote speakers at Tratoo, a restaurant on Kensington High Street. The food was excellent and the conversation was delightful. Participants included: Doctor Hellmuth Broda (Chief Technologist of Sun Microsystems Europe), Will Iverson (Strategic Partner Manager of Internet Tools of Symantec Corporation), and Robin Bloor (Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Bloor Research, the leading and most important Information Technology analysis/consultancy company in Europe).
On the day of the 26th of November of 1998, Tony Larks did an outstanding job of arranging press interviews for me. I was interviewed by the largest, leading, and most important information technology trade publications in Europe. I was interviewed by Robert Jacques with Network News, Cliff Saran with Computer Weekly, Lisa Kelly with Computing, and Keith Wharton with Wharton Information Systems. I was so busy giving computer trade press interviews and giving my conference keynote address speech that I missed lunch!
Now, dear readers, on with this week's episode of the Software View! Here is the complete transcript of my conference keynote address speech that I gave at the Java '98 strategic conference.
I would like to thank Doctor Simon Moores for that warm introduction. His compatriot, Tony Larks, is the ball-of-fire Group Sales and Marketing Director for the Java Forum, a part of The Research Group Limited. Please join me in a round of applause for Doctor Moores, Tony, and all of the people who accomplished the Herculean task of putting on this show. You've done a heck of a job! Good afternoon friends and fellow Java evangelists, the most important thing that you must know about me is ... that I am the last speaker before the break! Just kidding. I want you to know that I realize that the time is after lunch, so I will keep my remarks concise and short so that we can usher all of you on to a well-deserved break.
I am pretty sure that all of you are asking yourselves, "Well, okay, who is this guy? And why is he sharing the stage with the Chief Technologist of Sun Microsystems Computer Company, the Strategic Partner Manager of the Internet Tools Division from Symantec Corporation, the Director of the Technology Office from Finjan Incorporated, an Apptivity Associate from Progress Software, the European Product Manager from Inprise Corporation, and the Vice President of the Internet Tools Division from Oracle Corporation?"
Well, please allow me the privilege of an introduction. My name is Mark Kuharich. I currently serve as a software design engineer working in the United States of America, across the drink, across the pond, across the Atlantic Ocean, and far removed from this wonderful Olympia Exhibition and Conference Centre. I achieved a Bachelors of Science degree in Computer Science from the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York. At one time, I formerly served as a full time employee for Microsoft Corporation in Redmond, Washington. I helped them ship the Internet Explorer web browser version 4.0. Now, I spend all of my time learning and using Sun Microsystems' Java software technology platform.
I am also the Editor-in-Chief of the Software View, a free, no cost, e-mail and web based newsletter with articles, commentary, and my views of developments in the software world. I have a personal goal of having one million readers. The Internet site is located on the World Wide Web at
http://www.softwareview.com/
Please, do take it upon yourself to go visit the Web site, read my articles, and please join my newsletter. The newsletter is a labor of love for me. It is my passion. I would like to extend a personal invitation for you to share in the joy of it with me.
My talk this afternoon is entitled, "Java's past, present, and future: How Microsoft impacted Java's past, how Sun Microsystems is shaping Java's present, and how we, as individual software developers, can affect Java's future." We are privileged to be witness to the unfolding evolution of the Java software technology platform. I will attempt to convey and impart to you an individual programmer's perspective of these earth-shaking, paradigm-shifting events. Or as Tony Larks likes to use this British phrase, "Java, from the Developer Coalface perspective".
Let me be perfectly clear. I am not a Microsoft basher or hater. I used to work for the company, I own their stock, and every morning and throughout the day, I waste precious minutes waiting for my Windows NT workstation to reboot.
June 20th of 1996 is a day that will live in infamy. On that day, Microsoft Corporation announced support for Sun Microsystems' Java in Internet Explorer version 3.0. "Microsoft loves Java", said Brad Chase, general manager of the then IPTD (Internet Platform and Tools Division). I am here to reveal the story of how a desktop personal computer operating system and personal productivity applications monopolist came to violate Java's philosophy of "Write once, run anywhere".
Microsoft currently enjoys a 90 percent monopoly market share in desktop personal computer operating systems. Microsoft also enjoys a 93 percent monopoly market share in desktop office personal productivity suites like word processing, spreadsheets, etc. These two hugely profitable cash cow businesses are the two pillars that prop up Microsoft's stock and economic value.
Java and Linux are two of the greatest architectural threats that Microsoft currently faces. Linux severely undercuts Microsoft's profitability and business model. And Java obviates the increasing returns and network externalities of Microsoft's desktop personal computer Windows operating systems. Java annihilates the switching costs of portability between operating systems for software applications. Even more dangerous to Microsoft is the possibility that if enough portable Java applications are written, the need for Windows evaporates. Microsoft becomes irrelevant. The much simpler JavaOS will run all the Java applications without a Microsoft operating system. Thus, Java directly threatens Microsoft's operating systems business.
Microsoft has created a bifurcation in the market. They have introduced a divergent strain. Microsoft has employed two tactics. The first was to implement standard Java libraries poorly or not at all, and then provide a Windows-only alternate library that runs well on Windows operating systems and not at all on non-Microsoft operating systems. The second tactic was to add functionality to the standard Java libraries by providing libraries to fill voids. For example, the Java AWT (Abstract Windowing Toolkit) does not provide access to all the Windows GUI functionality. Microsoft extended the AWT to provide access to these functions. A side effect was that Java programs using these Microsoft library extensions were not able to be ported to non-Windows machines.
My mother has a old saying. She calls it "death by a thousand cuts". Please allow me to describe it to you. If you nicked me with a razor blade, I would bleed, but I wouldn't die. Now, if you sliced me a thousand times with a razor blade, I would eventually bleed to death. This is "death by a thousand cuts". Every single violation by Microsoft of Sun's 100% Pure Java Program is the slice of a razor blade. The following list is a rogue's gallery of Microsoft's offenses and violations intended to lock developers into the Windows platform. Thus, Microsoft makes it expensive, not only in time, but in monetary terms, as well, for software developers to port their applications.
Microsoft's CAB (Cabinet File format) and Package Management products violate the JAR (Java ARchive) file format, and Java Object Serialization. Microsoft's AFC (Application Foundation Classes) for graphical user interface development work best only on Microsoft's own virtual machine. Microsoft's J/Direct @dll, @com, and @security imports violate standard Java coding conventions by being embedded inside Javadoc-style comment blocks. One should never place core software application source code within comments blocks. J/Direct and Microsoft's RNI (raw native interface) violate the JNI (Java Native Interface) Specification. Microsoft's Internet Explorer 4.0 and SDK (software development kit) version 2.0 do not support the JNI Specification and do not natively support RMI (Remote Method Invocation). Microsoft deceptively altered key classes and inserted them into their SDK and virtual machine. I use the word "deceptively" because the documentation for the classes that comes with the Microsoft SDK makes no mention of these changes. The problem is that Microsoft breached its contractual obligation to deliver a compatible implementation of Java. The first set of changes in Microsoft's SDK is new classes, methods, and variables that were added to the system packages. A system package, or core Java API, is anything that begins with java.* in its fully qualified class name. As for classes, 16 new ones were added into java.awt and 1 was added into java.lang Microsoft added 32 new public methods, 3 new instance variables, and lots of new Locales for internationalization. All the classes within com.ms.* packages are accessible only by Microsoft products. They also violated the standard Java package naming conventions. The com.ms.* packages should really have been named com.microsoft.* If I were Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, I would be ticked off. Microsoft's implementation is missing a required method. Specifically, the toString() method of the ByteArrayOutputStream that accepts a character encoding name as a parameter is not present. Microsoft seems to have modified the templates of some of the security interfaces. They added 8 additional security methods. Microsoft's Visual J++ integrated development environment includes the WFC (Windows Foundation Classes), which support a language construct called delegates or bound method references. This construct, and the new keywords, "delegate" and "multicast", introduced to support it, are not a part of the Java programming language. It is unlikely that the Java programming language will ever include this construct. Sun already carefully considered adopting it in 1996, to the extent of building and discarding working prototypes. Their conclusion was that bound method references are unnecessary and detrimental to the language. This decision was made in consultation with Borland International (now Inprise Corporation), who had previous experience with bound method references in Delphi Object Pascal. Sun believes bound method references are unnecessary because another design alternative, inner classes, provides equal or superior functionality. In particular, inner classes fully support the requirements of user-interface event handling, and have been used to implement a user-interface API (applications programming interface) at least as comprehensive as the Windows Foundation Classes. Sun believes bound method references are harmful because they detract from the simplicity of the Java programming language and the pervasively object-oriented character of the API's. Bound method references also introduce irregularity into the language syntax and scoping rules. Finally, they dilute the investment in Java virtual machine technologies because Java virtual machines would be required to handle additional and disparate types of references and method linkage efficiently. They also threw preprocessor #ifdef support in to further muddy the water.
On March 12th of 1996, Microsoft bought Colusa Software, the maker of Omniware and OmniVM. For several years, Microsoft has been quietly developing Colusa's universal virtual machine and waiting for the right time to deploy it. The project, code-named Intermediate Language, will provide Java-like functions and allow access to Microsoft's COM (Component Object Model) on non-Intel processors and non-Microsoft operating systems. The universal virtual machine byte codes allow go-to's and pointers to specific memory addresses. Java's all-important cross-platform byte codes will be translated into Intermediate Language. And it will be optimized for Intel's next generation Merced microprocessor chip set.
Microsoft so feared that Java would undermine its Windows franchise that its highest executives cemented partnerships with influential companies to prevent Sun Microsystems from getting them first. After declaring the Java threat a "top priority," Microsoft sought to acquire, invest in, or close deals with several companies to "take mind share away from Sun," according to internal Microsoft documents. As part of the strategy, the Redmond, Washington, software giant bought DimensionX and sought deals with Metrowerks, Hewlett-Packard, and Fujitsu. Microsoft pressured Apple Computer Incorporated to use Microsoft's products and Microsoft's Internet Explorer as a condition of getting a $150 million investment from Microsoft. In addition to its acquisition and partner strategy, Microsoft explored ways to talk its most important ally, Intel, into dropping work relating to Java media technology Intel was collaborating on with Sun. In July, citing "changing Java market conditions," the leading chipmaker quietly abandoned work on its Intel JMedia Player, a software developer kit Intel had spent at least 14 months developing. Microsoft's attempts to kill Netscape were also aimed at Harming Sun's Java. If they wanted to keep the coveted "Windows-compatible" logo on their products, developers were required to use Microsoft products. The moves were part of an aggressive, multi-pronged strategy to compete against Java. This Sun technology would make Windows irrelevant, a scenario that compelled Bill Gates to write, "Java scares the hell out of me," according to electronic mail Sun subpoenaed from Microsoft.
Not only did Bill Gates order Microsoft to remove all Java applets from its public Internet World Wide Web sites and the minimal version of Internet Explorer 5.0 does not support Java, but the Microsoft-owned WebTV Networks subsidiary has also dropped Java support.
Microsoft's strategic objective is to eliminate and/or contain cross-platform Java by growing the polluted Java market, migrate and lock Java developers to Win32, and ultimately kill cross-platform Java by growing the polluted Java market.
Again, I want to reiterate that I am neither a Microsoft basher nor hater. If Java turns out to be as successful as I think it will, in the future, Sun Microsystems will have just as much power as Microsoft. And if they move to suppress innovation and endanger software developers as much as Microsoft currently does, I will rail against them, as much as I currently do against Microsoft.
For a Microsoft official to say that "Microsoft has no monopoly" or that "Microsoft loves Java" reminds me of something my mother used to always say. "Denial ain't just a river in Egypt." It is the big lie. Microsoft represents a clear and present danger to me and any independent Java software developer. Microsoft's holy war and jihad against Java adversely affects the economic livelihood of any developer trying to make his or her living upon the promise of cross-platform Java.
The sad part about all of this is that all of Microsoft's machinations will come to naught and will not matter one whit. I have worked "in the belly of the beast", so to speak. I know for a fact that the Redmond behemoth could easily be the best and world's largest 100% Pure Java software vendor. They have the intellectual talent and some amazingly brilliant people there. But the fact remains, that their monopolistic business practices tend to deform their otherwise elegant technology. Because of its monopoly, Microsoft is constantly impelled to deform and dilute its development tools to serve other purposes and other marketing requirements for products that have nothing to do with the development tools themselves.
But, most of all, I feel saddened and sorry for Microsoft. Every day they stay their hand and wait is another precious day of opportunity lost to the ages. Microsoft is a technology fast follower. They responded to the Internet well, so that success emboldens them to think that they have all the time in the world to handle the Java threat. But, if you allow me to mix metaphors, Microsoft is in serious danger of missing the Java boat. The Java train has already left the station and Microsoft does not have a ticket nor did they secure a seat. While Microsoft fritters away the time sitting on its hands, other companies like Sun Microsystems, IBM, Oracle, and Symantec are racing ahead and implementing technologies like Java Foundation Classes, Enterprise JavaBeans, and Jini. Microsoft is Nero fiddling while Rome burns.
Another company that I would like to talk about today, is how Sun Microsystems, Incorporated is shaping Java's present. Who could have guessed that a sleepy manufacturer of Unix hardware and software products would unleash upon the world a gift called Java? They have truly performed a great service for the world.
On November 17th of 1997, the ISO (International Organization for Standardization) overwhelmingly approved Sun Microsystems as a PAS (Publicly Available Specification) submitter of the Java software technology platform. Sun is the steward of the Java Platform and they take that obligation seriously. Their open processes insure that all materially interested parties can participate in defining their Java Platform specifications and they do not erect any intellectual property rights barriers that might prevent people from implementing their specifications.
On October 7th of 1997, Sun sued Microsoft Corporation in United States District Court for breaching its contractual obligation to deliver products that compatibly implement Sun's Java technology. On November 17th of 1998, the United States District Court found that Sun Microsystems, Incorporated is likely to prevail on the merits and granted Sun's request for injunction. The court ordered that if Microsoft ships products that include the Java technology, it must change those products within 90 days to address their failure to pass Sun's compatibility test suite. I am extremely pleased that the United States District Court granted Sun's request for injunction. Microsoft is contractually obligated to support Sun's Java for five years. The contract was signed in the Spring of 1996. At last! Victory is sweet! Our cause is just. Let justice be done!
I do not want you to be fooled. I do not want you to be misled or lulled into a false sense of security. It is my contention that there is a zero percent chance that Microsoft will be a good Java citizen. The company will make grudging concessions in the near short term for legally expedient reasons, but, long term, the prognosis is not good. Some cases in point are that on Friday, November 20th of 1998, Microsoft sent a letter to all of its Internet Explorer web browser licensees notifying them that Microsoft is dropping support for Java from Internet Explorer for the Macintosh and Unix. Microsoft may be heading for more trouble with the courts over the route it proposes to take. The company is going to switch off its compiler directives and allow developers to switch them back on if they want. Microsoft's minimalist interpretation of compliance could trigger a repeat of last year's wrangle over the injunction ordering it to dis-integrate Internet Explorer from Windows 95. Before the company's appeal, Microsoft was facing the prospect of hefty daily fines of one million dollars per day for contempt of court. Microsoft seems to believe that compliance with a binding court order is optional.
Sun allows the JDK (Java development kit) to be downloaded free for individual software developers. And Sun uses an open source model to distribute the Jini spontaneous networking technology. And there is an unconfirmed report that Sun released Java Workshop, its integrated Java development environment, as open source.
But, Sun shareholders and executives want a bigger payoff than the Java licensing fees Sun receives from developers. That means selling its own applications written in Java, as well as offering software that will drive sales of Sun's bread-and-butter business – computers that run Internet services and corporate networks. This means that turning Java into commercial software has become a top priority for Sun. The trouble is Sun will be competing with its Java licensees while playing custodian of the Java standard and steward of the Java platform. Sun promised licensees this April that it would separate church (platform) and state (applications), would create a Chinese Wall, and would build products that complemented rather than competed with other Java licensees.
Sun is in a tricky position and faces tough questions about Java from both its partners and its competitors. The acquisitions of Beduin and NetDynamics underscore just how badly Sun wants to jump-start its independent enterprise software business and glean revenue from its massive investment in Java technology. Here are the companies that Sun has already bought, and the Java technologies that Sun receives from each acquisition.
Sun is even re-entering the browser business by releasing its HotJava 1.1.5 web browser and HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) component. Sun wanted to re-enter the highly competitive browser market to provide an alternative to Microsoft's Internet Explorer web browser. No one underestimates the importance of an alternative browser like Netscape on the desktop today. We share the fear of the existence of a single browser, which could turn the world into a company store where everyone is forced to pay with company money - Microsoft's.
I do not envy Sun. They find themselves in a precarious situation and must navigate treacherous shoals. They find themselves caught between the Scylla and Charybdis, between "a rock and a hard place", between the devil and the deep blue sea. In the next year, Sun Microsystems must maneuver cautiously between paranoid partners, standards committees and, of course, Microsoft. While doing all this, the company must also release timely Java technology upgrades.
I would chasten Sun executives not to go too far or overstep in the direction of commercially milking Java. Make a play for ubiquity. Give away your core product: Java, and try to make money on the other ancillary products and services orbiting and surrounding Java. Things like the Java Series of books or Sun certified training courses on Java. We already must deal with one monopolistic software company. The world does not need another Microsoft.
Finally, I would like to address how we, as individual software developers, can affect Java's future. There is an ancient Chinese curse which can be viewed as a blessing as well. "May you live in interesting times." Today's European software design engineer truly does live in interesting times. The uptake of the Internet in the United Kingdom is continuing to rise with new results from the internetTrak survey estimating that the number of adults online is now 7 million, or 15 per cent of the total population.
In Europe, the Internet sea change includes no longer being protected from pricing pressure from outside one's home markets by a lack of transparency. In the past, currency exchange rates have gone a long way to covering up a multitude of surcharges. In January, with the European Monetary Union, the surcharges will be harder to hide. Excessively expensive pricing can no longer be the norm in monopoly markets, since the monopolies are being broken down. And eventually the regulations that usually protect the incumbents rather than helping foster new competitors will be revised by the European Union to level the playing field across Europe.
The Gartner Group says that Internet or World Wide Web based electronic business-to-business activity in Europe is 18 months behind the United States. European companies wanting to embrace electronic commerce face serious obstacles. When the politicians of Europe got together at Maastricht and set the single currency train rolling, they did not consider that the software resources and skills necessary to implement the EMU (European Monetary Union) are the same as those required to solve the Year 2000 problem, the Millennium problem or, more affectionately known as the Y2K bug.
My mother has an old saying. "Deep within every challenge lies the seed of its remedy or resolution." I would like to offer you a tool: Java. I believe that the current challenges facing today's European software design engineer will only increase the number of people and companies that will embrace the Java software technology platform.
Every expanding and rapidly growing technology platform requires something called a "killer application" or, more affectionately known as a "killer app". Killer app is a term in the popular computing industry field for a breakthrough software application that unleashes broad public interest and demand for an aspect of computer use. A killer app is a new software product or service that establishes an entirely new category and, by being first, dominates it, returning several hundred percent on the initial investment. Here are some examples of killer apps: The Apple Macintosh, desktop publishing for the Apple Macintosh platform, the desktop IBM personal computer, electronic funds transfer, Lotus 1-2-3 for DOS, ESPN for the cable television platform, Quake, NCSA Mosaic, and the Netscape Navigator Internet web browser. Here are three killer apps for the Internet and World Wide Web: electronic mail, the Kenneth W. Starr Report concerning the United States President William Jefferson Clinton and his White House intern, Monica Lewinsky, and the new Star Wars prequel motion picture film trailer.
The Java software technology platform needs its own killer app. I am not even going to presume to guess what it might possibly be. And I will not even guess from which quarter of the Java universe it will emerge from. It may come from Sun, it may come from someone or some company in this room. Regardless of what it might be or from where it might come, we are already witnessing a new day dawning. Mighty oaks in tiny fissures grow. With the arrival of the Java software technology platform, may a thousand flowers bloom!
Sincerely,
Mark Kuharich
Join my free e-mail newsletter called the Software View by clicking here or sending mail to thesoftwareview-owner@west-point.org
