IBM's Patricia Sueltz on Java (Continued)

Fawcette: If Java is tightly linked to CORBA, and that object standardization doesn't emerge, how much of a damper will that put on Java?

Sueltz: We're in a maturation process for CORBA also. I don't think it is so tightly linked that Java can't succeed without CORBA. Java can be a catalyst for CORBA getting its act together.

Just doing this in a standards body is ... well, this is not about a debating society, it is about business. Bringing the vendors together around Java has helped us understand what has to happen for our customers.

Fawcette: JavaBeans are relatively new, but what are your feelings about their adoption within corporations?

Sueltz: We see a lot of power in Beans. We are using them as part of our programming model to work across our different systems.

Fawcette: Another side of Beans' potential is in creation of a commercial market for components. We've published our concerns in Java Pro that lack of encryption and licensing models will inhibit development of commercial products. Do you see that problem?

Sueltz: Byte code can be reverse-engineered. We've seen that with browsers and other products. This is somewhat provocative, but we've seen Netscape put out source and say, "Go at it, guys." I'm not so worried about byte code being re-engineered. I haven't heard that as a big concern.

Fawcette: We're seeing indications that Java will change approaches to server-side development. For example, Sybase is essentially replacing TSQL with Java, where Java's performance isn't an issue because you're comparing it to stored procedures, which are hardly blindingly fast.

Another approach is that of Silverstream, which is integrating the database and middleware into the IDE ...

Sueltz: Smart move there.

Fawcette: Do you see any interesting trends there?

Sueltz: Two doesn't make a trend, but I think you'll see us have some interesting thoughts there. There will be places where Java can help us take middleware forward in the enterprise.

Fawcette: Let's go back and ask this again at the most generic level: What do you think are the major trends in Java for professional developers?

Sueltz: In the next year, the trend will clearly be from the client to the server. The client will continue to mature, but emphasis will move to the server. That's not just from our [internal] sources. Zona Research predicts that 97% of development will be server-based. We'll see more effort at making distributed objects work. You'll also hear a lot more about Java performance. You'll see some of that fixed, and less of an API grab.

Fawcette: Unicode is a hole.

Sueltz: Yes, we need to get that fixed to open up the Asian market. You'll see that.

Fawcette: Thin clients.

Sueltz: Yes, you'll see Java on very thin clients, such as smart cards and hand-held devices. My team has looked at Dynamic HTML vs. Java on these things, and you just can't get the power of an executable on the client with DHTML.

Fawcette: Middleware is in vogue now ...

Sueltz: Finally! We've thought of middleware as the plumbing, but it is also an enabler. Middleware is the place to be. This is not just about systems programming, nor is it about applications development. You need that strong enablement layer and infrastructure. What IBM has been doing in e-business, in enabling IT, is all about middleware.

Some people confuse e-business with e-commerce. E-business is the convergence of IT with Web technology, the power of communications you get with the Web, plus the strong application set you get with IT. Java brings those two together and that is why middleware is in vogue.