Sun Microsystems Inc may be keen to get a head start on any agenda Microsoft Corp may be hatching by taking Java to ECMA European Computer Manufacturers Association for standardization (CI No 3,050), but the International Standards Organization, the mother lode of the standards world, has another plot in mind. A meeting of ISO Subcommittee […]
Sun Microsystems Inc may be keen to get a head start on any agenda Microsoft Corp may be hatching by taking Java to ECMA European Computer Manufacturers Association for standardization (CI No 3,050), but the International Standards Organization, the mother lode of the standards world, has another plot in mind. A meeting of ISO Subcommittee 22’s Java Study Group in Cupertino, California in the first week of January is likely to recommend the organization initiate a fast-track standardization of Java that could be complete in two years’ time. Under its rules, the International Standards Organization can standardize on Java whether Sun co-operates or not; but wasn’t it Sun that itself first stood up and said it wanted to standardize its own property? Sun believes certain pieces of Java are now stable enough to go forward for standardization and adds that the core incorporates the application programming interfaces necessary for the creation of multi-system graphical user interface programs, but initially leaves out those parts of Java that are evolving. Some proprietary work will have to be cleansed, including Sun’s undocumented changes and shortcuts to the Java Virtual Machine. Other features will change as SunSoft Inc and JavaSoft Inc revise some of the application programming interfaces, many of which are still only in beta test. Sun is also believed to be proposing to create different versions of Java with different file extensions to support different compiler environments. It’s unclear how these will be incorporated into any standard specification.
