Java in libraries? (or everywhere...)

[Robert MacKimmie]

Just to dissuade people from dismissing the presence of JAVA and how  
much it has/will impact the Web, here is a press release that can be  
found on the SUN JAVA site (http://java.sun.com/). The players  
involved indicate significance and I don't think this means Scott  
McNeally will be living in a cardboard box anytime soon:

December 7, 1995 - Today Microsoft has announced that it has signed a  
letter of intent with Sun for a Java technology source license and  
that Sun and Microsoft are working through the licensing details. In  
addition, Microsoft has agreed in principle to provide to Sun  
Microsoft's reference implementation of the Java virtual machine and  
AAPI (applet application programming interface) for Windows.

We are happy to be working with Microsoft on a license for the Java  
technology and look forward to working with them on optimizing the  
Java technology for Windows.

Microsoft plans to use Java in its Explorer browser, and also has  
indicated to us that they plan to support JavaScript in Explorer.

As with other significant announcements of the past few weeks, and  
assuming a final agreement is reached, the Microsoft announcement is  
significant because:

   By integrating Java into their Explorer browser, Microsoft will be  
providing Java to a huge base of previously untapped Windows users. 

   Microsoft, as part of the proposed agreement, plans to improve the  
Win 95 port and will share with Sun a reference implementation, which  
we can then share with our customers. 

   It's a major endorsement from the world's largest software firm  
that our Internet technology is top notch. 

   It's further proof that Java has become the de facto open standard  
for programming on the Internet. 

   With Java Sun has established the first programming language that  
is not tied to any particular operating system or microprocessor.  
This means that applications written in Java will run anywhere,  
eliminating one of the biggest headaches for computer users:  
incompatibility between operating systems and versions of operating  
systems.

It has been a historic week at Sun:

*On Monday, we announced a joint effort with Netscape that we intend  
to work together to develop a new, open scripting language called  
JavaScript. This will be aimed at non-programmers who wish to create  
web pages that use Java applets. Twenty-eight leading technology  
companies expressed their endorsement of JavaScript.

*On Monday, we also announced that we plan to work with Silicon  
Graphics and Macromedia to develop common multimedia application  
programming interfaces (APIs) and file formats for Java that  
integrate 3D and interactivity. They will be based on Java from Sun  
and VRML from SGI.

*We also announced with Netscape and SGI a mutual endorsement of  
VRML, Java and JavaScript to promote standards for multimedia, 3D and  
interactivity on the Internet.

*On Wednesday, IBM announced that it has licensed the Java  
technology, and plans to port it to the AIX, OS/2 and Win 3.1  
platforms. 


*Also on Wednesday, Adobe announced that it had licensed Java and  
that it will integrate Java into its PageMill authoring tools and  
Adobe Acrobat.

* Finally on Wednesday, Sybase announced its intention to license the  
Java technology for use with its databases and commercial tools.