Sun's Java software takes a step in the open source. This week, Sun will open Java's next desktop version to the public - "Mustang" source code.
This software and server company announced the early code of Java 2 Standard (J2SE) 6.0 on its website. Sun Vice President Graham Hamilton said this helps Java programmers better understand and participate in its development.
Hamilton said: "They want to know more about the work in progress, they are willing to provide feedback. We publish the original code". " He also said that Java 6 will be completed in the first half of 2006.
SUN hopes that the external developers participate in the Java program design, ensuring that Java is completed under time through the collective efforts of the external institution through Java Community Process (open organization responsible for Java Technology Development and Audit Pine Technology Specifications). JCP decides what new features should be added, that is, Application Programming Interface (API).
When we start working with others in JCP, our API has increased a lot. We are trying to apply more JCP principles to the J2SE source code itself, so that more people will participate in the performance of the product. "Sun has always tried to keep Java's openness and not allowing it to be dominated, this movement is the last adjustment of this balanced relationship. The first Java enemy of SUN is Microsoft, which is after got the Java license Add some of the functions that can only be run on Windows, which destroys the original intention of the software to run in any computer.
After Sun After the official of Microsoft, Java felt the pressure brought by open source advertopers, and their attitudes of Sun did not give up on Java fully controlled. Sun has struggled over the Java source code issue for many years.
SUN's senior officials have said that they did not want Java to become open source software. But now Java is already partially open, and Sun also guarantees that it will eventually open the rest of the rest of June.
In 2003, Sun In order to encourage more people to participate in Java, the Java resource license introduced, and agreed that people of the license clause can read Java source code.
Sun has adopted some more important external work, such as the work of DOUG LEA DOUG LEA in synchronously executed instruction sequence (called thread). But SUN wants to get more help.
Hamilton said that if you want to submit the code, the programmer must put the copyright to Sun. He predicts that greater obstacles will be cultural: External programmers should let the Sun programmers believe in their code in line with the standard; and the Sun programmer should help the external programmer understand the Java code quality checkup step.
Hamilton said that Sun knows that there are many top secret information in the latest version of Java (code is Tiger).
Graham said: "Tiger is a big plan. We have grown for a long time in the dark. We try to make it more transparent, so developers can know what we are doing every week." Mustang features Sun also prepares to translate MUSTANG Some updates will be made.
J2SE Chief Engineer Mark Reinhold said that the new version will be more easy to manage, you can provide more information to the external management software. It comes with the "Attach On Demand" feature allows debugging software to check when the program is running, not before running. This is easier to find the problem.
The problem is, Hamilton said that SUN will also provide support for the basic set of network services (called WS-i). The basic set is set by network service interoperability organization and has been scheduled to be supported at TiGer.
