JavaOne started this morning with the first many dozens sessions and the Java Pavilion & Exhibition hall. The official kick off so to speak took place tonight, with Thomas Kurian’s keynote, in which he unfolded Oracle’s plans for Java. He wants to make it abundantly clear how important Java is to Oracle, how important the unity of the community around Java is and how urgent it is for him (almost on a personal level) to see the Java platform and community regain momentum, after a period of FUD and near stand-still. His keynote contained a number of very concrete statements and plans that Oracle intends to execute. He did not necessarily say this out loud – but between the lines I clearly read that Sun had fantastic ideas but not necessarily the capacity (and at some point obviously the budget) to deliver on them and that Oracle intends to bring its ability to execute and deliver (see for example the acquisition and subsequent integration of BEA and others) to the table and get Java moving once more.
His announcements included:
- Java SE 7 will be available in the Summer of 2011 -provided JCP joins in and approves.
- Java SE 8 will follow in 12-18 months after SE 7 – provided JCP….
- the process for defining Java EE 7 will commence shortly
- Java (through Java FX) will be the premier development technology for rich user interface applications (on any platform); JavaFX will be integrated into the Java programming language, JavaFX script will disappear (this will take two stages, one until Summer 2011, the other one until the year after)
- JavaFX will offer native, two-way interoperability with JavaScript and HTML 5/DOM. JavaScript can access the FX SceneGraph, JavaFX can access the DOM tree and (rich) HTML can be rendered inside FX apps; FX will get databinding facilities with REST, JDBC, JSON, XML etc.
- JavaFX UI Controls will be released into Open Source.
- As JavaFX will be integrated into Java and run on the JVM, its capabilities for Rich Media handling and 2D and 3D rendering will be available to any other language running on the JVM as well, meaning that for example Groovy, Scala and JRuby can integrate JavaFX capabilities
- Oracle is also planning to deliver a hardware-accelerated graphics engine that will enable JavaFX applications to render stunning interactive 2D and 3D experiences in real-time.
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Plans for Java ME – Oracle’s preferred flavor of Java on mobile – that will let the stack render HTML, CSS, and Javascript by default. Java ME is going to include WebKit Engine, JavaScript Engine, and Java/JavaScript Bridge, which will mean phones running future versions of Java ME can access web services and apps outside of a browser and – potentially – without any performance bugs or performance issues.
The engine will plug into the Java ME virtual machine and into Java FX.
Oracle’s Java ME engine will make use of what modern graphics hardware accelerators can do in term of (60 frames/s) rendering of 2D and 3D.” (Direct X from Microsoft for Windows in addition to OpenGL or “better”). Java ME is going to be optimized for the ARM7 and ARM9 chipsets licensed by handset component makers Broadcom, Samsung, NEC, Texas Instruments, and others with the stack also updated to include APIs that take advantage of phone features such as payment, telephony, and location.
- Oracle – proud owner of two JVMs, the Sun Hotspot JVM and the BEA JRockit JVM – will merge these two together, making many of the enhancements in JRockit available under the same (liberal, largely free) conditions that apply for the Sun JVM today. This converged JVM will be based on OpenJDK. JRockit Mission Control will be available for the Hotspot JVM.
- Oracle will release two new releases of Glassfish in 2011; Glassfish will be improbed through the inclusion of several features from WebLogic and will very much be continued. It is both an open source product (as well as reference implementation for JEE) and a commercial (support) offering from Oracle (that includes a number of high end facilities also available with WLS). Glassfish will always be first to ship for JEE (for obvious reasons).
- Oracle also commits to two new NetBeans releases in 2011
The official description for this keynote sounded as follows: “Since its inception, Java has expanded relentlessly in bringing the power of secure, connected computing to the activities of everyday life. Java is the force behind applications and devices important to every aspect of both our professional and personal worlds—from desktops to mobile phones and handheld devices, to entertainment and navigation systems, to mission-critical enterprise software. In this opening JavaOne keynote Thomas Kurian, Oracle’s executive vice president, Product Development, will share Oracle’s vision for strengthened investment and innovation in Java and describe how Java will continue to grow as the most powerful, scalable, secure, and open platform for the global developer community.”
In short: “Java is great and Oracle is going to make it even better – please trust us and join us.”
