Java's undeniable impact on the Web

21 Sep Java's undeniable impact on the Web

Posted at 00:00h in Commentary, IT by

Nearly a dozen years ago, Eric Schmidt, then the CTO of Sun Microsystems, gave the DEMO audience a preview of a new development language called Java. A thoroughly modern development platform for the still relatively new World Wide Web and beyond, Java promised to ease programming headaches, the biggest of which was porting applications from one hardware platform to another.
Today, we can debate whether Java truly delivers on its “write once, run anywhere promise.” (There’s enough evidence in the mobile marketplace alone that Java apps aren’t always easy ports.) But there’s little argument that Java has become a mainstay in the technology landscape. Java powers more than 2.5 billion devices worldwide. Millions of people download Java each month. And at DEMOfall next week, a clear 50 percent of the products were developed in whole or in part in Java.
Among those products:
• The first platform for sharing personal photos and videos on local cable channels.
• A next-generation mobile payment transaction platform.
• Sophisticated software that searches out the most influential conversations in the blogosphere.
• An application that brings the convenience of BlackBerry-like e-mail to regular mobile phones.
• A wireless platform for retail store management.
• A communications center for active families that bridges desktop, Web, and mobile phones.
These few examples demonstrate the flexibility and wide-ranging applicability of Java. From server-side Java to Java Smart Card to J2ME, every variation of Java is represented in this fall’s product lineup.
Indeed, Java has become so mainstream that it’s easy to forget how far and how fast this development platform has come: from a technical demonstration to a platform of choice for today’s developers in just 11 years. If it’s been a while since you’ve explored the world through a Java-colored lens, I recommend you visit “Duke’s Zone” at http://www.java.com/en/dukeszone/.
As for DEMO, we’re very glad that Java is a part of our proud history.
Recent articles by Chris Shipley
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Chris Shipley is the executive producer of NetworkWorld’s DEMO Conferences, Editor of DEMO Letter, and a technology industry analyst for nearly 20 years. She can be reached at chris@demo.com. Shipley, has covered the personal technology business since 1984, and is regarded as one of the top analysts covering the technology industry today. Shipley has worked as a writer and editor for variety of technology consumer magazines, including PC Week, PC Magazine, PC/Computing, and InfoWorld, US Magazine, and Working Woman. She has written two books on communications and Internet technology, has won numerous awards for journalistic excellence, and was named the No. 1 newsletter editor by Marketing Computers for two years in a row. To subscribe to DEMOletter please visit: http://www.idgexecforums.com/demoletter/index.html.

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