A rift emerged in the Java industry last week as Sun
unveiled its latest attempt to establish a standard for Java
software tools.
Sun, along with 13 software companies including BEA, Compuware,
SAP, Oracle and SAS, has formed an industry group known as the Java
Tools Community (JTC). The group aims to drive compatibility
between Java tools from different suppliers.
Missing from the group were IBM and Borland, which in 2001 founded
Eclipse, a rival industry body working on standards for development
tools. A spokesman for Borland told Computer Weekly it had no plans
to join the JTC at present.
Java is facing increasing competition from Microsoft .net. Analyst
firm Gartner said support from IBM and Borland would be critical to
the success of JTC. A serious split could weaken Java in the eyes
of users pondering which development platform to focus on in
2004.
Bola Rotiba, senior analyst at Ovum, said the formation of JTC
would lead to confusion for end-users. "There needs to be one
standard," she said.
Rotiba also criticised Sun's record on collaborating with the
industry to enhance Java through the Java Community Process.
Paul Bellchambers, who is responsible for the iForce partner
programme at Sun, insisted JTC was necessary.
He said many existing tools used by Java developers are not
compatible, so cannot share information easily, which makes it
difficult for users who wish to run multiple Java development
tools.
Bellchambers believed JTC would eventually merge with Eclipse. He
also defended the Java Community Process. "There has been lot of
positive feedback," he said.