Re: [ossig] Think Java's really great? Think again!

[Nan Phin <nplee@tm.net.my>]

IBM, JBoss eye new Java plan
By Martin LaMonica, CNET News.com
Thursday, September 25 2003 9:23 AM


IBM and open-source Java software company JBoss Group are in discussions to spearhead a Java standardization effort aimed at cooling
off the growing popularity of Microsoft's C# language.

The two companies are investing independently in a software development technique called aspect-oriented programming, or AOP, which
is intended to make application development faster, more flexible, and less prone to error.

Both companies are now looking at making AOP a standard feature of Java, according to Bob Bickel, JBoss' vice president of corporate
development and strategy. The company recently joined the Java Community Process, the formal structure for adding new features to the
Java blueprints.

Making AOP a part of the Java specification--which would likely take more than a year to accomplish--would give mainstream Java
developers access to more advanced programming techniques. Once these features are built into products, they could help make Java a
more attractive alternative to Microsoft's .Net-branded line of development tools.


Indeed, JBoss and IBM's interest in making AOP more widely available to Java developers through standardization stems from
Microsoft's success with C#, a language that emulates many of the qualities of Java. JBoss executives said Microsoft's multiyear
effort to supplant Java with C# is paying off.

"JBoss and IBM share a common concern over the popularity of C# over Java," Bickel said.

Microsoft was not immediately available to comment on the plan.

Making Java developers more productive is a key goal among Java providers in their ongoing battle against Microsoft, which sells its
Visual Studio.Net line of development tools. The choice of development tools can often dictate follow-on sales of related operating
systems and server software for running custom-written applications.

JBoss Group sells services around its JBoss Java server software, which is given away freely. IBM last year nudged out BEA for the
revenue lead in the multibillion dollar market for Java application server software.

The key benefits of aspect-oriented programming are flexibility and simplicity, according to proponents. AOP is designed to
streamline the development process by centralizing the policies that control certain functions that are used in several places within
a computer program.

For example, a programmer could define a rule on how a Web server handles the way people log on to a Web site. Rather than having to
change those rules for each individual accessing the site--which would involve tweaks in several places--an AOP tool lets a
programmer alter the policies for the entire system all at once.

Programmers can also create their own "aspects" that handle certain functions. Analysts note that aspect-oriented programming
dovetails well with widely used object-oriented programming techniques.

On top of faster development, code created using AOP tools tends to be of better quality, said Ron Bodkin, who worked on the AspectJ
project at Xerox Parc and now runs a consulting company called New Aspects of Security.

In the meantime, Java companies are investing heavily to improve Java development tools and emulate Microsoft's success with its
popular Visual Basic tool. Java creator Sun Microsystems, for example, plans to release Project Rave, a development tool aimed
squarely at Microsoft's Visual Basic stronghold of relatively simple applications, often used in corporate departments rather than in
large-scale and complex implementations. BEA released WebLogic Workshop 8.1 last month, a key component of its strategy to garner
more Java server software market share.

Forrester analyst John Meyer said that in the short term, easier-to-use tools promise to accelerate Java development and make it more
comparable to Microsoft's successful line of development tools.

"We're going through this continual maturation process," said Meyer. "It's going to be several years before the tool industry can
adopt the extensions that are approved and ratified in the Java (standardization) space (and) before people will be ready to adopt"
aspect-oriented programming.

Looking ahead
Along with these efforts, Java software providers are investing in aspect-oriented programming. Although AOP is far from being a
mainstream programming technology, Java companies have indicated that these advanced techniques are strategic in the long term.

BEA last month introduced the WebLogic Aspect Framework, designed to let Java programmers experiment with AOP techniques using BEA's
WebLogic tools and server software.

IBM Research has invested in aspect-oriented programming as well in various initiatives, including one called HyperJ.

Big Blue is also involved in the evolution of AspectJ, a language specifically designed for AOP, which is now being developed under
the Eclipse open-source development tools project. The AspectJ language was developed at Xerox Parc's research lab and turned over to
Eclipse earlier this year.

Another Java-based aspect-oriented "framework" is Aspect Werkz, an open-source project.

While Java tool makers are investing in AOP as a way to combat Microsoft, the software giant has its own plans in the works.

A start-up called Intentional Software, which was founded a year ago by ex-Microsoft executive Charles Simonyi, is working on
refining aspect-oriented concepts, and developing commercial products.

Simonyi had been researching intentional programming, a concept related to aspect-oriented programming, while at Microsoft. The new
company has already signed a licensing deal with Microsoft that gives the computing giant "first right of negotiation" for any new
developments.

JBoss founder and technical visionary Marc Fleury said Microsoft's .Net Framework borrows many aspect-oriented programming techniques
although Microsoft does not use that term in its marketing.

Fleury said the JBoss aspect-oriented framework, which it introduced in JBoss 4.0, seeks to copy the simplicity of development of
Visual Basic .Net, where many of the more difficult programming tasks, such as transactions or caching, are shielded from the
developer by the use of simple tags.

Bodkin is bullish on the adoption of aspect-oriented programming in commercial systems, even though it is still largely in the
experimental phase. The difficulty of programming J2EE systems, which slows down the application development process and creates
application request backlogs at corporations, will be the main driver, he said.

Aspect-oriented programming faces some hurdles before it becomes mainstream, though. Although the AspectJ language is an extension to
Java, developers still need to be trained in new techniques. Also, there isn't a clear agreement in the industry as to what precisely
makes up an aspect-oriented programming tool and where the technology should go, said Bodkin.

"It's like in the early days of object-oriented programming--there were different ideas of what object orientation should be.
Standardization will be helpful, but in the meantime, open source will give programmers something useful now," Bodkin said.

kean wrote:

> duh!! dude, to be zealot is another thing, but to be
> openly trash a "language", that's war man!! each
> language has it's beauty in it, and no language is
> perfect. programing language is just a tool. And a
> programmer job is is to pick the right tool to solve
> the problem. To be extreme, only do you harm, unless
> you are a extreme methodology programmer that's
> another story:P



--

best wishes.
/nan phin

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.



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