Sun completes open-source Java project

At JavaOne conference, Sun also previews new solutions to improve Java speed and performance

At its annual JavaOne conference this week, Sun Microsystems announced that it has finally completed the open sourcing of its Java technology, and previewed new solutions to improve its speed and performance.

During his opening keynote at the developers’ conference in San Francisco, Sun’s software executive vice-president, Rich Green, announced the completion of the OS project with the availability of the Java Developer’s Kit (JDK) for Java Standard Edition (SE) under the GPL version 2 licence.

Green also announced a new steering body – the OpenJDK Interim Governance Board – which will be charged with “creating the constitution for how the community will govern itself”.

There were also moves to ensure the “write once, run anywhere” mantra of all Java products continues to ring true, with the announcement that OpenJDK implementations can use the Java SE 6 Technical Compatibility Kit (JCK) to test and be certified for compatibility with SE 6 specs.

Fabrizio Capobianco, chief executive of mobile open-source push email specialist Funambol, said Sun has an opportunity to extend its influence in the enterprise market by open sourcing its products.

“There are one billion devices out there with Java on them but it is only used for games,” Capobianco argued. “In open sourcing Java ME, for example, the community can start building applications beyond games – the opportunity is there to go in on mass market devices and build enterprise apps [for them].”

Meanwhile, Sun launched the Real Time System (RTS) 2.0 extension, with support for the NetBeans Integrated Development Environment (IDE), to boost the performance, speed and reliability of Java.

Key features include the ability for developers to set priorities for processes according to how important they are, and a memory recycling capability that allows developers to determine how and when functions should be executed, the firm said.

Anna Ewing, chief information officer at Nasdaq, which is currently trialing RTS 2.0, welcomed the technical advances in the technology. “But just as important is the evolutionary approach Sun is taking, which allows for continuous improvement without sacrificing time to market,” she added.

Sun’s Green also flagged up further planned enhancements to Java SE6 over the coming months, in response to customer feedback, which will aim to improve download times and execution speeds.