Sun Microsystems Inc is working on a subset of Java that could provide a single interface to connect to multiple sources of data. Java Data Objects (JDO), which has just passed a second expert review, will provide universal access to data from disparate sources, such as mainframe data, XML and real time data feeds, according to Pam Hudadoff, product line manager at the tools group in Sun. She didn’t want to give a timeline for JDO being incorporated in any Java specification but said that the company was making good progress with the standards procedure.
Since Sun acquired Forte Software Inc and NetBeans Inc this year, the company has focused on developing Java tools that enable developers to build applications that can access corporate information held on databases and other applications and pass that data around distributed internet applications, so-called ‘Dot-Com applications’. The two latest tools from the company – JavaBlend 2.0 and Java Message Queue 1.0 – are intended to enable developers build applications that map data from relational databases and allow different pieces of an application to talk to each other.
Hudadoff says that Java Blend will help developers to build applications that convert data from relational database into Java objects, or, use the Java objects in an existing application to build relational database tables. Hudadoff says that JavaBlend is easier to use than previous Java tools because developers don’t have to get to grips with additional application programming interfaces, a la JDBC, or a separate programming language embedded in Java, like Sequel. JMQ is based around the Java Message Service (JMS) 1.0.1 specification.
Java Blend 2.0 software will be available this quarter in configurations for Solaris and NT. Java Blend software is orderable now at $1,200 per developer seat. A single seat, developers edition of Java Message Queue software supporting up to 250 connections is priced at $500 and is expected to be available this quarter for the Solaris and NT.
