Java 6 shows maturity

A BETA OF JAVA SE 6.0 JDK code-named 'Mustang' was recently released for public consumption which is now feature complete - the only changes to the release builds will involve tuning and bug fixes.

It's been nearly two years since the release of Java 5.0 (also known as Java 1.5 and 'Tiger') which is a small gap compared to the time between the releases of 1.4 and 1.5 - over four and a half years. This revamped release schedule was implemented as previously the long release interims "did not allow us to be as nimble as we'd like, especially in the face of competing platforms like .NET," according to Sun's Mark Reinhold. Suffice to say, Mustang is a much smaller upgrade to that of Tiger.

Java 5.0 incorporated a raft of underlying language changes including generics, annotations, autoboxing primitives, among other significant enhancements in pretty much all areas of the JDK. Although Mustang isn't a major upgrade, Sun does appear to have delivered some important changes, including:

• Security improvements (including support for Java's new Smart Card I/O, Microsoft's PKI/cryptographic services on Windows, LDAP authentication, among others.
• Improved diagnosis of memory usage problems
• Swing/AWT visual and speed improvements (including further native-OS API support)
• Integrated web services API (new Client and Core Java Architecture for XML-Web Services 2.0 APIs, new support for Java Architecture for XML Binding 2.0 etc)
• Scripting support - allowing support for mixing of JavaScript (or your own scripting engine plug-in) within Java source code

Although a lot of the new features are of use to a large portion of the Java development community, it probably doesn't contain enough newly implemented improvements to ensure an immediate massive uptake - unlike 5.0 which was anticipated by a plethora of devs and coders. Java SE 7.0 code-named Dolphin, will shortly begin work.

More of interest concerning the Java development saga is the licensing changes that Sun has attempted to address pre-Mustang. The 'Java Community Process' has been in effect for some time now, allowing the public to determine what features and improvements are most needed for a new build or release, but advocates of open-source have always stipulated that this wasn't a true open-source process and was tied too heavily to the constraints and whims of its corporate owners.

Sun's Distro License for Java (DLJ) has attempted to embrace the Linux distribution communities, allowing for much easier bundling of Java Runtime Environment's (JREs) and Java Development Kits (JDKs) but some opponents to the new licensing scheme exist. RedHat, the recent purchasers of JBoss the widely used open-source J2EE application server and a key lynch-pin to acceptance in the Linux community, have complained that this is still not open enough and that Sun have only done the minimum possible to allow for further acceptance.

Fortunately several sources within the company have begun to speak louder and louder touting the benefits of open source and Sun's willingness to properly open-source Java. Sun is currently "looking at everything," said Jeff Jackson, senior vice president for Java development and platform engineering, along with chief executive Jonathan Schwartz stating "It's not a question of whether we'll open source Java, the question is how". Also, Apache's 'Harmony project', that proposes a full open-source implementation of the J2SE 5.0 specification, has been given Sun's informal blessings at its current immature stage of conception.

This all shows certain promise, but until Harmony has been given the official green light or Sun's own fully open-sourced Java license is out in the wild, the open source community will continue clamouring for a fully open-source Java. ?

L'Inqs
Java 6.0 changes
Java 5.0 changes
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