Java

Java Politics

The era of Java applets is apparently drawing to a close. The Mac operating system, which for years installed Java by default, has migrated to a less welcoming posture that requires users to install a Java plugin themselves. The result, along with the evolution of HTML and Javascript, will be a world in which the innovative Java content developed in the 1990s and early 2000s will be less and less accessible.

Nonetheless, it's worth noting that programmers who wrote in Java for the Web were turning away from operating system-specific programming. Microsoft engaged in a war of containment to stop this. Control and distribution of the "virtual machine", a mechanism that sought platform independence for software, has been of great interest to Microsoft.

With their XP operating system, Microsoft intensified its campaign against Java by forcing people to download a bulky Java plugin instead of including this in the XP standard installation. This was in spite of the fact that Java is one of the most useful and heavily used Internet technologies. Microsoft also tried to pollute Java code by introducing Windows-specific additions to the Java language. These non-standard "features" encouraged programmers to write "Java"-esque code that would not run under other operating systems. The courts ruled that this was illegal, because Sun Microsystems, the developer of the Java language, licensed the Java technology to Microsoft with the understanding that Microsoft's implementation would meet compatibility standards. But if Apple's early 80's "look and feel" lawsuit against Microsoft showed anything, it is the perilousness of relying on the courts. Ironically, 20 years into the Web experiment, Flash support is dwindling for browsers and Java is fading as a plugin. In their place are developing technologies that offer less robust audio-visual sychronization and fewer robust, reliable programming APIs for network app development than existed after 6 years.

Java Plugin

A Java plugin is available from java.sun.com which may be available for your operating system. This plugin can be used within the newest Netscape browser (Version 6). The reason for producing a plugin is that, basically, the complexity of the Java "virtual machine" has become too great for the programmers at Netscape to write their own Java interpreter. Companies that specialize in this matter will now provide Java support for various platforms. By moving the Java functionality of your browser to a plugin (supplementary coded module), it is possible to update the Java plugin without waiting for a new browser release. However, this constitutes a sort of chore or responsibility for the browser user that didn't exist over the last few years. The large number of Java applets now in use on the World Wide Web are a compelling reason to install the plugin, but it is easy to see that this will not motivate everyone. The outcome of the Microsoft anti-trust case may have something to say about this issue. If the Java plugin were installed when the operating system is installed, the level of Java support across the Web would be significantly augmented.

What is Java?

Java was developed by Sun Microsystems. It is an object-oriented, interpreted, secure, robust language that was developed for use in computerized toasters and interactive television. It is somewhat coincidental that it has become an omnipresent Internet technology. Java's slogan, "write once, run anywhere" indicates that platform independent programming is one of its central aims. In practice, it has been slow to achieve this goal, in part because of the pace of industrial change in Internet technology, but also because of the resistance from operating system monopolist Microsoft Corporation.

Enabling Java

Java functionality in your browser can be turned on and off. The methods for enabling Java differ from browser to browser.

Netscape allows you to use the Preferences-->Advanced control panel, available from the browser's menus, to enable Java.

Microsoft's Internet Explorer hides Java preferences in its operating system setup control panels. See Setup-->Internet.

Java Security

Some institutions, primarily corporate, disable or uninstall Java. This is done for security reasons, since security problems have been located in browsers in the past. But by comparison with other security problems, bugs in Java implementations are comparatively rare and seldom exploited. It is important to note that Java is a language that was designed to provide a secure programming infrastructure that protects users' interests. Unlike Microsoft's ActiveX legacy strategy, or the default policies of Microsoft's Outlook email software, security has been a primary concern in the design and implementation of Java.

Alternatives to Java

Many of the things for which Java was initially used within the browser context can now be done with other technologies. However, there are concerns that should be considered when endorsing such alternatives. One of Java's virtues has been Sun's vision of cross-platform support. In other words, all common operating systems that have browsers also have Java support. It is significant that the millions of Linux system users are able to use Java applets, whereas popular formats like Shockwave Director can only be experienced with MacOS and Windows. In fact, comparing plugins like RealAudio and Shockwave Director to Java is a false comparison, because it is increasingly possible for the file formats used by those plugins to be interpreted and "played" by Java applets. Therefore, Java must be understood as a language conducive to flexibility and innovation, whereas other plugins are typically single-purposed and controlled by few companies. As for Microsoft's proposed C# programming language, it can not yet be seriously considered as an alternative to Java, because it is so far only a design specification. But it is important to emphasize that a movement toward C# is essentially intended to kill Java rather than to address the limits of present Java technology.