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Java, Java and more Java!

It was probably the hottest cuppa that was being passed around all afternoon at the plush Regency room of Windsor Manor while delegates from Sun Microsystems, creators of Java, spouted enthusiastically on the multifaceted, multidimensional applications of the coolest programming language on the Web.

Sun Microsystems' Java and Strategic Alliances Director S Rajeev claimed

T O D A Y

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that the language is so popular because "It is portable. Which means it can be used on any platform. It has a built-in security, it is object oriented, if you learn it once, and it is easy to learn even via books and CD-ROMs, you can apply it anywhere, it is easily distributed, cost effective, saves on administration costs and most importantly, its applications can be modified to customise needs."

There are already 70 Java applications - from banking to healthcare to manufacturing and more - that have been certified as 100 per cent pure Java. Even their official mascot, the Duke, is seen hesitantly peeping through a curtain, he's obviously overwhelmed at the number of uses his applications have allowed.

Once again, if you discuss Java's popularity, it's because of its complex applications that ensure customer intimacy, a boon for an enterprise seeking operational excellence (it operates on the just-in-time philosophy, thereby reducing inventories, floor space, costs etc and offering a better return on investment. The CSX railway system and British Telecom have adopted Java technology to much benefit.

While 1996 saw the PicoJava hitting the market (small footprints of the technology which could be used in pagers and printers), 1997 has the MicroJava (which has more memory and is used mostly in hand-held devices such as telephones etc. But 1998 will have the UltraJava ( being used in workstations and capable of greater graphics computing). Java won't be confined to machines but will be integrated into our way of life, like it has typically happened in Singapore, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia and other parts of the world.

So, what you will have is an electronic wallet which will carry a ring that will open doors, a smart card that will allow for banking and personal transactions, it could even become the proof of your identity and carry your medical history, if you like. You will have a home telephone that offers movie reviews and ticket ordering, a wireless pen-based network computer and lots more.

Wireless phones, set-top boxes, Internet TV boxes, screen phones, pagers that connect you to the Web, the possibilities are endless. So you naturally move from traditional business to e-business.

Jyothinath Ganguly, manager, systems engineering, Sun Microsystems, can't think beyond Java, "Everyone is busy trying to use its applications that there's no time to think of any other language at the moment."

Java Beans are different models that deliver reusable, reliable, business applications middleware, explains Ganguly in his talk. He says it is the platform-neutral component architecture for Java which makes it an ideal choice for developing or assembling network-aware solutions for heterogeneous hardware and operating system environment within an enterprise or across the Internet.

Java computing for the enterprise is catching on with more and more companies looking at the possibility of adopting Java. Sanjay Ketkar, senior manager Internet, Tata Infotech, in his talk, claimed that his company benefited enormously by leaving the traditional mode of operations, saved on costs and enhanced relationships between their national and international counterparts through Java applications. And they're looking for more Java.

So, forward-thinking companies in finance, telecommunications, manufacturing, retail and other industries are already using it to create new revenue streams, develop lucrative profit centres, and speed targeted applications to everyone in their organisations.

Java computing ushers in a new era, one that brings you a host of Java-based products and solutions for the enterprise - including the new platform-independent Java Station, thin client network computers and optimised Java servers.

Federal Express uses a Java application for their clients which informs them of the exact location and path that their packet is taking, the flight it came on, the way it is headed and the time it would reach them. After integrating the application, they received 10,000 more hits on their site than before.

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