JavaOne has certainly been focused on the WS/Wireless areas. And what they both have in common, at the core, is the prolific use of XML. Most of us have been dealing and working with XML for quite some time now. It is important to be as productive as possible when dealing with XML so that we can all concentrate on building the services and apps that utilitize it. Until recently, there’s been some amount of elbow grease needed to parse and do data bindings. I’m sitting in some of the specific implementation sessions today to get a sense of what’s coming down the pike that can be applied to upcoming development. I Thought I’d share some of the new features on the XML and Mobile front to give you a sense of what should be up in the very near future.

Enter JAXB. JAXB (JSR-37) is the XML binding for Java objects spec. It can be found in the javax.xml.bind package. JAXB allows for the automation of Java binding. It uses W3C XML Schema definition (a common theme in many JSR’s is that DTDs seem to be slowly drifting away, in case you haven’t noticed). The expert group is working on the community draft at the moment, but here are some highlights of what to expect. JAXB will support:

The fundemental changes that are being made to JAXB will allow for more flexibility of implementations.

XML Binding is used for mapping instances of an XML document to in-memory Objects. The binding facility consists of a binding compiler which binds the schema to derived classes. While this is only one way to go, and seems to be the direction at the moment (XML->Objects), the future looks like it will have both Objects to XML documents. This means you will be able to have a JavaBean and generate the Schema from it. When compiling, there are options that allow the validation to be turned off. This flexiblity will allow users to determine when to run the validation. Seems that the validation code generated by the compiler can be almost 1/3 of your code space and have some significant performance hits.

It’s also possible to use the Schema and include Binding Schema information in the the same logical document. This allows for setting default rules as well as specifying custom bindings in the Schema. We’ll be able to override defaults for XML->Java name mappings, XML data types -> Java data types, as well as XML Namespaces -> Java package names. Included will be meta-level customizations to override the default values. Fine-grained XML components can be mapped to primitive, reference, and Collections, although the specific Collection support is still up in the air at this point.

On the MIDP front, I sat in the MIDP-NG (MIDP 2.0) session. JSR-118 has been in progress for the past year and just entered public review last week. There’s lots of new stuff going into the next generation of MIDP including functionality for application delivery, UI, Multimedia, Security, and Networking. In the app delivery area, OTA (Over The Air) provisioning is formally being added to the spec, enhancements are being made to enable reliable delivery service, and there’ll be notifications for successful install and deletion of a MIDlet. Some UI enhancments (all built on lcdui) include: custom item support, layout control, and graphical enhancements (including transparent image support). Also coming: a rich set of Game API’s for 2D games and Sound API’s. This will allow for rich sound audio for MIDLets including tone generation. And sampled sound files (i.e. wav, MIDI files). JSR-135 (now called Mobile Media) is a superset of what’s being provided in JSR-118.

Security is playing a key role (no pun intended) in the NG spec. Untrusted apps will follow the same sandbox model as in MIDP 1.0. Trusted apps will have permissions on the device for restricted APIs. There will be one Protection Domain for each MIDLet suite. It will be up to the device to implement the policy as it’s not being specified in JSR-118. The reason for this is that security policy is device- and market-specific. Certificates will be able to live on the device as well. Permissions (a boolean, granted or denied) can be applied:

There are also a number of network enhancements coming. Sockets have been added, as well as UDP Datagram support. Support will be available for HTTPS (using SSL 3.1, TLS 1.0, WTLS). APIs are coming to get socket options, as well as have dynamic port assignments made so that the AMS can support push to the device on incoming socket requests. However, it will be up to the AMS to support whichever protocols are applicable to the device. So beware when designing and writing your MIDLets.

There certianly has been a lot going on at the conference the last few days. Four days down, one to go. Someone get me some (more) coffee.

The letter of this year’s JavaOne is “W”. Web services and Wireless. The focus of all attention has been ping-ponging between these two. This morning’s keynote set the tone: in the wireless market, don’t think of the carrier as the ISP, think of it as the platform. There was a Blackberry demo focusing on J2ME/J2EE integration. Using a sales scenerio, there was an SAP app on the back end handling customer orders, along with other information of interest to the sales rep. Using the Blackberry running a J2ME and accessing the SAP app through the firewall, the app was pushing information (sales order status) to the device. The sales rep could then drill down and get additional information on things like back orders or customer contact info, and then s/he could dial the phone number of the customer contact right off the Blackberry. It was easy to see why people are becoming addicted to the Blackberry. This might be the same reason that the line to get the device-of-the-show, the Sharp Zaurus, has been around the corner. Until today that is. Today, the “sold out” sign went up at the booth.

I also spent some time talking the the SprintPCS folks after the keynote. If you haven’t started paying attention to the Micro edition, here’s why you should. Later this summer, Sprint is rolling out a full 3G data platform network. They’re going for speeds of 144 Kbps this year, 288 Kbps in 2003, and 3Mbps in 2004. The need for speed has always been here; now finally the way to handle it is arriving. The Samsung A800 and N400 phones are rolling out with active matrix color screens that enable support for multimedia and 3D graphic APIs. Check out the developer’s kit on the SprintPCS site. Based on MIDP, Sprint is adding additional network (HTTPS, TCP/IP, SSL) support, Muglet APIs (context handling between applications), and multimedia. The SprintPCS developer program is also getting into full swing with the Vendor Machine model. Build your J2ME apps, upload them to the Vendor Machine (check out JSR-124 for more info), set your own pricing model, and it all can be provisioned on the fly by customers. It was demonstrated this morning, and it also has a private Vault. The Vault can be used to store MIDlets that are purchased so that you don’t have to have them all loaded on your phone at once. Find more developer info at developer.sprintpcs.com.

It’s good to see that the J2EE/J2ME integration is really taking hold. I walked through a demo on workforce automation with the folks at Interlink who are showing an internal Web services app. Using a variety of clients and devices (J2ME, Palm, Browser, Rich client), they are offering web services that provide presentation services using a variety of application sevices (reporting, alerts, queries) to access various business services. What I really liked about this is that we aren’t talking games here. We’re talking honest-to-goodness live Web services applications providing useful business models and using all sorts of devices. There are some exciting times coming on the development front for all of us. If your hair isn’t standing up on the back of your neck by now, you might want to think about getting another career.

The gadget mania device showcase in the Pavillon also has an array of pretty cool devices including; smartcards, video phones, PDAs, phones. There’s been a constant number of techies salavating at the thumb candy behind the casing. Two new VMs (code name Project Monty) for the CLDC and CDC/Dynamic Compiler were also announced today that offer up to 10 times better performance than today’s VMs on smaller footprints.

On the J2EE front, some news on upcoming JSP/Servlet happenings. Servlet 2.4 (JSR-154) is looking to be focused on extensiblilty, enhancments to the listener model, session/login managment and consolidation. 2.4 looks to be more conservative then the 2.3 release. The spec is still in the expert group but should be going into public review very soon. Some major highlights include:

On the JSP 1.3 front (currently in Expert Draft), the major goal is to simplify. Key new features include Expression lanaguage (EL) support and Fragments. EL support is actually in the current JSTL, but will be moving into JSP 1.3 due to current release schedules. EL will be available to the JSP and taglibs, as well as template text. There is still talk of having functions supporting in the EL, but it hasn’t been decided yet. Fragments will provide a better abstraction mechanism for custom actions (i.e custom tags). It will allow authors to take JSP code and turn it into custom actions without going through the actual process of writing custom tags. This feature should significantly simplify what it takes to make body content and custom actions. Keep an eye out for the community and public reviews for the JSP 1.3 spec and get your input heard in the JCP process.

In the spirt of the wireless mania, OTA and out for today.

Today’s keynote by Scott McNealy gave a glimpse into some of the cool wireless apps fast approaching. The time is quickly arriving for ME. It’s about ‘what you have, what you know, who you are’ in the world of security. The new Motorola i95cl was demo’ed with a heart rate monitor application using a low frequency device pigtailing from the phone, sending real-time info to a website. One can imagine the many uses that will open up for this type of monitoring in the health care (and other) industries. Your cell phone might become your lifeline. Literally.

Also demo’ed was a Java Smartcard with embedded biometrics. Using a credit card running a Java applet, the card was inserted into a reader in a simulated airport security scenerio and used to verify Scott’s fingerprint. After two failures, we had a confirmed match. Pretty cool stuff. And it’s certainly worth mentioning that the DoD is deploying 4.3 million JavaCards this year. If you haven’t been paying attention to the smartcard biometrics brew-haha, you might want to reconsider.

Let’s get down and dirty with The Pack, aka Java Web Services Developers Pack. I sat in on a number of presentations that were about using WSDP and that offered details on using JAX-RPC. Web Services (WS) are definitely being used right now for integration points using an aggregation of other WS’s. If you’re just getting started, make sure to check out the Blueprints that will be released in June with the FCS of The Pack. It should help clarify things to consider like: communication sytle (document or method), maintaining state, security, request and response generation. Most of this will seem familiar to anyone dealing in Servlet or EJB development (using ValueObjects, chatty servers, etc) but there’s lots to take into account.

JAX-RPC seems to be the crux of the matter and will be a key component of J2EE 1.4. It’s RMI-like, only not. It’s meant for heterogenous environments (unlike RMI Java-Java) and hides (most of) the plumbing. It’s the JAX-RPC which is making the contract (or WSDL file) available to the WS. Advanced features to watch for are handlers to access underlying SOAP request/responses, and pluggable serializers to use arbitrary Java Objects in method signatures (however you lose portability). XRPCC is the RMI-like compiler for JAX-RPC. In the current EA2 of The Pack, the only endpoint support is for Servlets, so your JAXRPCServlet acts as the gateway for all requests coming into the Web Service. As a side note, keep an eye on the JSR-101 and make sure that your implementations (and implementations of your Container vendors) are following it.

Speaking of JSRs, I also stopped in on the JCP session. There are quite a few JSRs that might be catching your attention now, or in the very near future. JSR-127 Java Server Faces is geared towards a standard UI framework for web apps, using JSP tags and Java APIs. It’s looking like April/May for an EA. JSR-109 on Implementing Web Services, which is being led by IBM) should be available for proposed final draft in June of this year. It will cover endpoints, secure service requests, and Bean/Container message service. JSR-152 (which is JSP 1.3) is being aligned with the J2EE 1.4 release. Seems like the J2EE 1.4 release is going to be quite the animal.

Today also saw the announcement of a beta version of the J2EE AVK which is an application verification kit. Finally, a way to make sure that your application is J2EE compliant to the spec and portable across any J2EE App server. With a suite of over 15,000 tests, the kit generates detailed logs for pinpointing problems. Some of the members of the beta program are showing the AVK results in a deploy-a-thon across multiple App servers with no code changes in the Pavilion. Check out more info if you are interested at http://java.sun.com/J2EE/AVK. While this might not seem like a flashy announcement, I think that we, as developers, will be hearing more about this from our customers who want to have the AVK run on deployed applications.

I sat down with with the spec leads of the WSDP, JSTL, and the upcoming JSP 1.3 release as we wolfed down some dinner. With all of the buzz going on about Web Services in general, I’m going to put together a future article about some of the more interesting points made. Some highlights: WS is not in need of security right now because deployments are internal, but there are some plans for how it’s going to get incorporated in the near future; JAX-RPC being the essential component of the WSDP; JSP Fragments and the Expression Language being the driving forces for the JSP 1.3, as well as some more details on how the JSTL will play in the WS arena. Stay tuned.

The 2002 JavaOne conference kicked off today and the focus we are told in this mornings keynote is “back to basics”. That’s good news for developers as Pat Sueltz Executive VP of Software Systems Group at Sun noted. The focus is more on developers, more on technology, less on marketing. As the operating system is now considered the commodity (hasn’t it been for awhile now?), the application space is where it’s at.

This didn’t seem like ground breaking news to me. With constant mention of the Java Community Process (JCP) and over 500 companies involved in it, we are expecting some talk of ‘open source’ throughout the conference, as mentioned by Rich Green VP of Java & XML in this morning’s keynote.

But for now, let’s talk about Web Services. It was pointed out today that the hype surrounding Web Services might be ahead of the requirements and standards, but there is certainly enough available to start taking notice. Still, I expect the ride to be a little bumpy for a while.

Full blown Web Services (WS) will be rolled out in J2EE 1.4 slated for Q1 2003. But there’s plenty to be had before then. You know there is a big pow in a punch when even the acryomn associated with it is being shortened. The Java Web Services Developers Pack (WSDP), or just “The Pack” as it’s being called, will more than likely be touching your Java life sometime in the near future. WS are those that run on internet protocols (like HTTP, HTTPS, SOAP), are described well enough for interoperbility (using WSDL), and can be found in a registry (UDDI, ebXML Reg/Rep).

For those of us who have been around awhile, this sounds very CORBA- and RMI-like, but that’s just because it is. However now we see the flair of interoperbility which is a key feature of The Pack. Everything being delivered in The Pack is destined to be rolled into J2EE 1.4.

For people looking to start WS development, the way to do it today is using The Pack. It is chock full of acryonms, even for a seasoned vetern. The tutorial alone is running about more then 500 pages, so that should give you a hint. But don’t get scared off, just take it in smaller pieces.

The Pack is made up of: Java XML Pack, JSTL, Ant, Tomcat, an Installer, Admin tools, examples, tutorials, UDDI test registry, and a partridge in a pear tree. Instead of having to download 50 or more downloads, it has been packaged in a one-click download and installer that, as of EA2 which just came out last week, can also be installed on MacOS X.

The entire Pack is based on J2EE 1.3.1. The Java XML pack includes; JAXP, JAX-RPC, JAXM, JAXR. All of these technologies cover different aspects of the WS environment. Some highlights:

JAXP API’s cover processing & transformation (SAX2,DOM2, XML Schema, Xerces-2, Xalan-XSLTC which is used for high performance transformations.

JAX-RPC is for synchronous messaging. The JSR-101 is still ongoing, but right now you have Servlet endpoints in the specification. Expect EJB endpoints to become available in J2EE 1.4.

JAXM 1.0 is more focused on document mapping and not RPCs

JAXR is used on the client side to deal with abstracting registries like UDDI and ebXML Reg/Rep. While SOAP 1.1 is currently being supported in The Pack, 1.2 will be integrated later.

JSTL 1.0 is in beta right now. This is the Java Standard Tag Library that is providing iteration, conditional, Expression Language, and XML manipulation custom tags. The XML tags will probably play the most prominent role in the WS arena. Look for the Expression Lanuguage support to get moved into the JSP 1.3 spec being working on now. Also, look for optimized containers for JSTL tags. Already there is work being done to optimize Tomcat for the tags, so expect some performance improvements on the horizon.

Look for the FCS of The Pack this June. Basically, if you want to be ready for J2EE 1.4, get your hands on The Pack and start fiddling around with it.

Other interesting happenings;
JAXB for doing data binding to Java objects. There’s more to come on this. Expect a J2SE 1.4.1 (code name Hopper), a bug fix release and full Itanium support due in the Fall of this year, followed by J2SE 1.4.2 (code name Mantis), in the first half of 2003. J2SE 1.5 (code name Tiger), will be out for the end of 2003 and will be focused on RAS (quality, monitoring, managibility, performance, scalablilty). On the J2EE front, 1.4 is due on Q1 of 2003 and will have the Java WSDP rolled into it.

Till tomorrow.

Related link: http://news.com.com/2009-1001-866365.html

According to CNet News.com: “The goal: Sun looks for payoff to Java addiction.” This is an interesting package; however, I disagree with it.

1. If you talk to Sun’s vice presidents of Java and XML software, Richard Green, he’ll tell you that Sun would rather be though of as the Java evangelist for the BEAs and IBMs.

2. As further evidence, Sun’s iPlanet Java product division has been axed (officially or unofficially).

3. Sun’s J2EE vendors like BEA and IBM probably don’t want Sun competing in the same space for market share.

4. Sun does indeed collect revenue from Java through its J2EE vendor licenses and the JCP (Java Community Process) membership dues.

5. It’s in Sun’s best interest to see that Java software does well, especially J2EE, as a way to sell its Solaris OS software and its hardware servers.

Look for JavaOne coverage from ONJava.com later today and all this week, from Sue Spielman and myself.

What do you think of this?

Related link: http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,89924,00.asp

In day 2 of the US vs. Microsoft Antitrust case remedy phase, Microsoft’s attorneys argued that Java is to blame. They argue that Java did not suffer from anti-competitive behavior. Also, they contend Sun doesn’t believe enough in its own Java technology, and that Java is proprietary. Microsoft is also trying to strike much of the testimony of Sun’s vice president and general manager of Java/XML software, Richard Green, because Green’s “…testimony could be construed as attempting to build a case of new liabilities.” Of course, this is probably true, because of Sun’s private lawsuit filed against Microsoft two weeks ago.

What do you think?

Related link: http://jakarta.apache.org/site/news.html

Borland, Fujitsu, HP, IONA, Nokia, and Oracle voted with Sun to
lock Open Source out of Java based on results of the JSR-99 vote,
as found on the JCP.org site. According to Jakarta though, digging
behind the votes, you’ll see companies like IBM sharing Apache’s
view for fair and open source licenses.

What do you think this means, if anything?

Related link: http://www.internetweek.com/question02/response031202.htm

A recent InternetWeek poll asks, “What is the biggest challenge facing the Java enterprise development community
today?” Find out the latest poll results.

1. Improving and standardizing app server/tool implementations of current J2EE v.1.3 specs…35%

2. Keeping up with Microsoft’s .NET…30%

3. Integrating Web services into the platform…21%

4. Improving Java Community Process and Java certification processes…9%

What do you think is the biggest challenge involving Java?

Related link: http://www.gotdotnet.com/terrarium/

“Terrarium is a multiplayer ecosystem game developed using the .NET Framework. Developers can create their own creatures and add them into the game on their own client machine. Teleporters on each client transfer the creatures between clients in the Terrarium peer-to-peer network.”

Cool.

Related link: http://news.com.com/2100-1001-856678.html

According to CNET News.com: “Legal experts describe Sun Microsystems’ lawsuit against Microsoft as very aggressive and expansive, going well beyond anything pursued by federal and state trustbusters. And in many important respects, they say, the suit could be tough to win in its current form.” This is especially the case because Sun didn’t file as a class action lawsuit, on behalf of its Java vendors and implementors as well as the Java community at large which participates in the JCP (Java Community Process).

Do you think Sun should’ve filed as a class action instead of the private filing made?

As we get closer and closer to the kickoff of JavaOne, it’s hard to express the volume of promotional mail I’m receiving from vendors who’ll be at the show. “Better you than me,” I’m sure you’re saying, and you’d be right about that. But the good news is there’s going to be a lot (emphasis on “a lot”) to see and explore at this Show.

I’m looking forward to bringing you the meat and potatoes, to cutting through the hype, and to bringing you daily technology coverage of the conference. That’s why I’m wading through all of the product announcements that I’m getting so you don’t have to. Most of my coverage will be focused on all aspects in the J2EE arena, but don’t be surprised if there are some interesting additions beyond that scope.

I’m actually playing three roles when I walk through the Moscone Center doors. As a developer, I’m interested in the technology: what’s new, what’s improved, what’s coming down the pike. As a company president, I’m interested in what products are coming through the door that make my life, the products we build, and the life of my customers easier and more productive. As a reporter, I’ll be bringing you the nuts and bolts coverage of sessions of interest, some interviews with the technology leads in various happening areas, BOF community interest and feedback, and my commentary about what’s hot and what’s not. Guess I chose the wrong year to give up coffee! I’ll be on double espressos for the duration of the conference.

If you can’t make the conference, no worries, you can live vicariously through me. If there’s specific coverage you’d like to see, shoot me an email and speak your mind. I can’t make any guarantees, but I certainly will try to accommodate you. If you are going to be at JavaOne, feel free to stop and say hello.

Finally, if your company wasn’t up for footing the $2K per person pop for the JavaOne conference fee, there are some attractive alternatives. Check out the Java specific software symposiums happening around the country. You can find them at http://www.completeprogrammer.net and they are much easier on your wallet.

See you starting March 25th for the OnJava.com daily coverage of JavaOne.

Related link: http://news.com.com/2100-1001-275364.html?legacy=cnet&tag=mn_hd

Late last year, CNET News.com reported that Hewlett-Packard plans to attack BEA Systems and IBM in the market for Java Web application server software that runs e-business transactions. Given the HP-Compaq merger, can we still expect to see this? My hunch is no.

Analysts say HP was hoping to make a quick impact in the Web application server software market. HP executives had said “the company’s new strategy is to give away its base application server for free but to generate profit by selling software modules that work on top of it, including more reliable technology for transactions, and tools that allow businesses to build and offer new subscription-based software and services over the Internet.”

With Compaq now in the formula, expect the HP side of the business, mostly servers, to go back to favoring Windows, which means an emphasis on .NET instead of Java. Therefore, HP’s prior plans for distributing free software for Java developers are now likely dead. We’ll soon see.

Given the HP-Compaq merger, can we still expect to see this? My hunch is no. What do you think?

Related link: http://www.palmos.com/dev/tools/desktop/101-desktop_overview.zip

Palm has developed a set of APIs for application developers to extend the Palm Desktop with new functionality. Good stuff.

This is one of the features for which I was advocating in my article on the Palm OS last year. It’s too bad Palm hasn’t been able to convince Handspring to use its later Desktop releases, but maybe this is a good competitive driver for them.

Related link: http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104-850455.html

According to ZDNet’s Matt Loney, “The rift between IBM and Microsoft over Web services widened further over the weekend when Web services evangelists from each company clashed over the relative merits of .NET and Java 2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE) for building applications that can talk to each other over the Internet.” So much for Web services partnerhships. These two have been amiable partners on the W3C as well as a new Web services consortium. I guess we’ll see what impact this has, or where this could go.

What are your thoughts on this seemingly never-ending debate?

According to CNET News.com contributor Ben Heskett, there may be “A fresh vision for Novell?” This, after the recent hiring of Vice Chairman Chris Stone, will pan out in terms of a new strategy gambit, one that involves Java.

While Novell’s NetWare 6 continues some of its success, it’s losing market share to others and the continued growth of the Web services as the Internet/intranet truly evolves into the next generation networking operating system, a theme at O’Reilly’s upcoming Emerging Technologies Conference in May. Novell’s other product and focus of late is eDirectory, their entry into Web services, involving directory lookup and discovery. However, that strategy hasn’t been fruitful by any means despite much investment.

By now, you would have thought that IBM, who has used/is using Novell for marketing their WebSphere application server would have acquired Novell by now. I think some IBM executives still sit on Novell’s board of directors.

Anyway, “Stone’s initial moves are likely to be related to his roots as a champion of developers. He once led the Object Management Group, which created CORBA, or the Common Object Request Broker Architecture, a programming architecture that ties disparate software and computers together. Now he wants Novell to quickly adopt the Java 2 Enterprise Edition architecture and related Web services technology standards, such as XML (Extensible Markup Language) and SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol), so that programmers can more easily write software that runs on Novell technology, particularly eDirectory.”

It looks like Novell could very well rise again with this strategy. To do this realistically, Novell will either acquire already existing Java Web app server and IDE technologies and tools or merge with another market-share ailing company that already has existing technologies and tools. For the first scenario, look for Novell to possibly work out an acquisitions or licensing deal with Sun’s former iPlanet division (or what’s left of it). Forte for Java and/or the iPlanet Web server tools may be available for sale or licensing based on what I hear from anonymous sources in the industry. For the second, struggling Allaire/Macromedia could be a possible merger target for Novell. Novell has the brand and eDirectory to go with Allaire’s JRun Web app server suite, etc. Of course, there are other possible targets as well.

From one or the other, Novell could put together a rather complete Web Services Application suite of tools for the marketplace to likely compete with BEA, IBM, etc. One problem though, time is not on Novell’s side. IBM could still acquire Novell in a hostile manner. Such an acquisition would eliminate another competitor from IBM’s worries. We’ll see. Chris, I wish you luck.

I don’t envy Chris Stone’s task. What do you think of his chances? Share your thoughts here.