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 John Reynolds's Blog
Oracle buys JavaPosted by johnreynolds on April 22, 2009 at 07:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)I heard the news while driving home Monday night... This is really very good news for Java. The earlier acquisition talks of Sun by IBM would have provided significant resources, but let's face it... IBM began as a hardware company (as did Sun). Oracle is and always has been a software company, and a very effective one. With Sun, Oracle acquires a great Operating System (Solaris) and it assumes the stewardship of Java. I'm very optimistic that Oracle's going to know exactly what to do with these software assets... something that hardware companies never do seem to get quite right. Update I think that Cay Horstmann's pronouncements are fairly reasonable... but we have to also keep in mind the larger context - Oracle acquires lots of companies, and in many respects Sun is just one more.
Oracle's biggest challenge is to make sense of all of its acquisitions... particularly BEA and Sun. I have to agree with earlier posters that Solaris is the one thing that will absolutely make the cut - A great Operating System is the only thing that Oracle did not have (apologies to Linux fans, but it's just not the same). I'm not sure about the revenue potential from Solaris, but think of the marketing message: Oracle has it all. I maintain my pronouncement that this is a good thing for Java in the long run... All these questions between really Open and sort of Open are out in the Open. No bucks, no Buck Rogers - Projects like Glassfish and Netbeans can't be great unless somebody is underwriting the huge cost of making and keeping them great. Sun was wonderful for providing that underwriting, but it's doubtful if they could have continued. Alternate funding would have been necessary... Oracle's actions just make us think about that sooner. Applications as Process ActivitiesPosted by johnreynolds on April 17, 2009 at 02:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)If you are a Developer who builds sites where folks go to "do things", then I hope can inspire you to think a bit about those "things" as part of a larger Process. It's not a huge leap to build into your site the hooks that a Process Guy like me needs to incorporate your site into a larger Managed Process. I'll be grateful if you make the effort, and I'll bet the users of your site will be too. Please check out the details on my other blog. IBM buys JavaPosted by johnreynolds on March 18, 2009 at 05:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)Rumor has it that IBM is buying Java - and the company that spawned it. Of course I'm exaggerating- Sun's more than just Java - but I bet Java is the key. IBM has made huge investments over the years that are dependent on Java, and the prospect of anyone else getting hold of Java has got to keep many IBM execs up at night. Will this be a good thing for Java? I think so. Open Source software may be free, but developing it sure isn't, and having a financially sound landlord is a good thing. If this truly is the end for Sun, that's a sad thing. But it's not necessarily a sad thing for Java. The Desktop is Dead (or at least terminally ill)Posted by johnreynolds on March 03, 2009 at 06:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (35)Chris Adamson recently questioned the value of Swing 2 and I have to go one further... Isn't it time to admit that the Desktop is dead? I think that it's pretty clear that GWT points to the future and "Swing 2" clings to the past. Marc Andreessen was a bit premature when he said something like "The Browser is the Operating System" back in the 90's, but it's clear that his prediction is coming to pass... Take a look at Chrome's features for a hint of what's just around the corner. With Browser Applications like ThinkFree, Zoho and Google Docs getting better all the time, and with SmartPhones (with better Browsers) and NetBooks becoming pervasive it's best to not waste any more time on the Desktop paradigm. Update: All - The responses to this post are almost unanimous. Those of you who left your comments are a pretty passionate lot... Responses seem to make two major points-
Thanks to everyone who responded... One commenter asked "What was the point of this entry?" Your comments are the point of this entry. I love it when you state your positions, justify your positions, and offer your own opinions. It's much more fun (and productive) than sitting back and assuming that everyone agrees with you. As for the fate of the Desktop... We'll find out ;-) Programming or Software Engineering?Posted by johnreynolds on January 27, 2009 at 02:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)There's an interesting thread going on over at InfoQ regarding the relationship between BPM and Software Engineering. One subtext of this discussion raises a wider question - When is it "Programming" and when is it "Software Engineering"? I'm not sure that the distinction really matters... it's kind of like trying to nail down a definition for "Scripting Languages" rather than "Real" programming languages... but I'd like to share my thoughts. I think that it's Software Engineering when your primary focus is on the relationships and interactions between software components. Programming is when your primary focus is on implementing specific requirements. I know that's a pretty mushy distinction, but it's the best I can come up with for now... To build on this distinction a bit more: It is my very strong belief that everyone should be taught how to Program. Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic just aren't enough for the 21st Century - Everybody should be able to write simple programs. In contrast, Software Engineering is a very specialized field and way beyond the needs of most people. Like Electrical, Mechanical, Civil and the other Engineering disciplines, it takes years of preparation to master. In my experience all Engineering boils down to math and metrics (How else can you measure the effectiveness of an algorithm?). Bringing ths back to the BPM/Software Engineering discussion going on at InfoQ... I agree that BPM is not Software Engineering (it's more akin to Process Engineering). There's a huge amount of Software Engineering that goes into building a BPM suite, but that doesn't generally concern those who are actually using those suites. When implementing a Managed Business Process you must employ good Programming skills - but in most cases you are building within the dictates of your BPM suite's Software Architecture. To me that's not really Software Engineering, it's Programming. What do you think?  |
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April 2009
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John Reynolds is an Austin (as in Texas) based programmer who has been professionally developing software since 1980. His primary focus has been on software usability and usefulness, dating back to his involvement with Tandy's DeskMate graphical environment in the late 80's. Java is his current language of choice, superceding a long relationship with C++ and an early affair with the irrepressible FORTH.
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