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[Image] [Image] JavaSoft: Take that Microsoft [News Category]
By Mike Ricciuti
IBM has grounds to
[Departments] October 16, 1996, 1 p.m. PT use Java Beans
Sun Microsystems' (SUNW) JavaSoft
[Resources] division today took a swipe at Recipe posted for
Microsoft's ActiveX component strategy Java Beans
[Services] by posting the specification for a MS debuts Visual
competitive architecture called
JavaBeans two months ahead of J++
[Marketplace] schedule.
Ê
JavaBeans is an API (application
programming interface) that allows
software vendors to build reusable
Java components that end users can
then assemble into cross-platform
applications. The specification is
posted to the JavaSoft Web site.
JavaSoft will release a preliminary
development kit in December for
building JavaBeans components.
The company also announced that
several development tool makers,
including Borland International,
Symantec, IBM, and SunSoft will
integrate support for JavaBeans into
their Java tools.
JavaSoft executives said JavaBeans is
superior to ActiveX for building
component applications because it
includes bridges to competing object
models, while ActiveX is currently
limited to Microsoft's own technology.
"Developers will have to make a
strategic decision on what technology
to use. Developers need the biggest
bang for their buck, and they can't
develop on one platform with one API,"
said Gina Centoni, JavaBeans product
line manager at JavaSoft. "People want
to take advantage of multiple
platforms."
The technology will work with Java,
ActiveX, OpenDoc, and Netscape
Communications' LiveConnect component
architectures, Centoni said. That
means that components written to the
JavaBeans API will work with Netscape
Navigator, Microsoft's desktop
applications, and Apple Computer's
CyberDog technology.
Microsoft has promised bridges to
competing schemes, but political
wrangling has so far stymied progress
in delivering the technology. JavaSoft
plans to hold a developer meeting in
Long Beach, California, on November 6
to evangelize the technology and to
disseminate technical information.
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