February 1999 What's Up With Java? By ManMohan S. Sodhi I am intrigued by Java enough to not be put off by all the cute coffee puns. In some ways the hoopla around Java makes sense: Since "object-oriented" made the cover of Business Week, the next programming notable would be a truly object-oriented language or a language linked to the Web, and Java is both. Let us take a closer look at the issues surrounding Java. Java business solutions First consider some examples of Java-based enterprise solutions: Saab Cars USA Inc. deployed Java to let salesmen in showrooms access data on financing from various back-office systems and view them with a Web browser. Habib Bank AG Zurich developed a centralized information and control systems, hPlus, using Java-based relational database connectivity for its branches in Asia and Africa. The United States Postal Service developed intelligent forms (including calculations and error-checking) and has made these available via its Web site to automate the documentation process for small- and medium-sized bulk mail customers. Sabre Technology Solutions rewrote the graphical front-end of Sabre's three-tier reservation product, QIK Access, to make it easier to maintain a single set of code for its various customers. CSX Corporation, the U.S.-based railroad and ocean liner freight transporter, used Java to create TWSNet to allow Web-based freight-car ordering, freight claims, bill of lading submissions and shipment-status queries among other information services. Jet Propulsion Laboratory created a Java interface to allow scientists to control the Sojourner Rover, a robot, in order to explore the Martian terrace as part of the Web Interface for Telescience (WITS) for Web-enabled distributed control. UCLA Medical Center is reportedly using Java to create the interface to the Picture Archiving and Communication System for making medical images electronically accessible; applets (programs available via the Web) include one for use by radiologists in diagnosis, and the other to teach radiology residents and medical students. Java's advantages The language has the following advantages that justify the excitement around it: Platform independence and easy integration with the Web allow for immense simplification of enterprise-wide rollouts and upgrades. "Java's platform independence and automated downloading have been critical (in testing distributed control of the Mars Rover)", says Paul Backes, team leader of JPL's WITS project. "I had three test sites on three different platforms using two browsers, all working exactly the same way." The language enables rapid application development (if there is such a thing) with its true object-oriented nature, elegance and platform independence. Support by major hardware producers and enterprise software solutions gives strong credibility to Java as an enterprise solution. IBM is a strong supporter with its big range of hardware and supported operating systems, and has upwards of 3,000 people working on Java software. Java's disadvantages Despite everything going for it in terms of language design and features, Java has some problems that should give pause for thought if you are thinking of selecting it as an enterprise-wide platform. One is the lack of stability, as the last two releases of Java (1.0 and 1.1) have been described as "green" by users. Also, while touted as "write once, run many times," programmers sometimes complain that it is "write once, debug many times" due to changes needed on different platforms. However, both problems may diminish substantially now that Sun is rolling out Java 2, which is supposedly quite stable. A much bigger problem is that of "It's all politics, man" in the palace intrigue of Microsoft, Sun, H-P, IBM and others. Java's "Windows-killer" touting may have led Microsoft to license Hewlett-Packard's Java clone, Chai, that specializes Java functionality for embedded systems. There is a potential loss of platform independence, as there is nothing stopping Microsoft from acquiring/developing a Java clone favoring Windows Ð especially now that a judge has ordered Microsoft (appeal pending) to reverse changes it made to Sun's Java code. And, remember UNIX? Me neither. OK, I touched a raw nerve with some of you, but the point is this: Can Sun, IBM, H-P and others agree on a common standard for the Java language if they could not agree on standardizing UNIX against the threat of Windows NT? As for the "may the best software win," remember what happened to OS/2 version 2, a wonderful operating system that could not hold its own against Windows 3.1! What's next? My view is that the palace intrigue will eventually subside and a clearer picture will emerge. The language itself is elegant (compare with Visual Basic or even C++!), and should be a valuable programming tool regardless of whether or not it becomes the enterprise standard. So, while Java, or anything else for that matter, should not be your automatic solution to every problem, it merits serious consideration as a choice in your next Web-based or other programming project. It may not be everyone's cup of tea, but it may well be your next cup of coffee! Dr. ManMohan S. Sodhi is president of the Logistics Section of INFORMS and experienced consultant in supply chain planning with Andersen Consulting in Chicago. He is the founder of the OR news group, sci.op-research, and helped design and create INFORMS Online. He welcomes your comments at MohanSodhi@AOL.com. 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