Sun: J2EE 1.4 To Include WS-I Basic Profile

The move is the first show of product support for the WS-I's work and shows Sun's commitment to making the Java platform an even more viable foundation for building Web services, observers said.

Simplifying the marriage of XML and Java for building Web services is something that developers, Java software vendors and the Java Community Process (JCP)--the group of companies overseen by Sun to develop Java standards--have been trying to accomplish for some time.

Solution providers and developers have said that for Java to be a more widespread platform for Web services, the technology must be easier to use with XML data and related standards.

The JCP already had planned to require that companies that wish to be compliant with J2EE 1.4 support several Java APIs for XML, including Java API for XML-based Remote Procedure Calls and Java API for XML Processing (more commonly known as JAX-RPC and JAX-P), to better integrate XML into Java applications.

Including the WS-I's Basic Profile, which consists of guidelines for making standards such as SOAP, WSDL, ebXML and UDDI interoperate in Web services, will make an even stronger case for the use of J2EE as a Web services platform, said Mark Hapner, a Sun distinguished engineer and lead architect for J2EE.

"One of the great things is it really shows this important synergy between writing interoperable Web services, which is what the [Basic Profile] technology is there to deliver, and delivering on portability that is unique to the J2EE environment," Hapner said.

Hapner also commended the Java community for its commitment to developing and selling J2EE-based products that support the WS-I Basic Profile.

"The whole J2EE community should get some credit for being willing to put the dollars on the line here and say they're making this WS-I Basic Profile a required part of their products," Hapner said. "That's a big step."

The decision will delay the final release of the J2EE 1.4 specification, however. Hapner said the Basic Profile is about three months from the WS-I's final approval. If all goes well, the JCP expects to have the J2EE 1.4 specification, which was expected in March, finalized by summer, he said.

Ronald Schmelzer, an analyst with research firm ZapThink, said the inclusion of the WS-I basic profile in J2EE 1.4 shows a real product-based commitment by Sun to promote Java as a platform for Web services that interoperate with disparate vendor technology.

"By really taking the message of Web services interoperability to heart and implementing the Basic Profile in J2EE 1.4, Sun is basically saying, 'OK, we buy into the vision of standards-based, loosely coupled computing. Here's our first stab at this from a product perspective,' " Schmelzer said. "This now will, of course, put Microsoft and IBM in the position of having to do the same in their product sets, or face looking hypocritical for first refusing Sun's entry into the WS-I and then poo-pooing their efforts."

Sun rivals IBM and Microsoft formed the WS-I a year ago with a group of other vendors with the goal of ensuring that Web services are interoperable between disparate vendor technologies.

Sun initially balked at joining the group, and animosity between Sun and the WS-I founders grew when evidence surfaced that Sun was intentionally not asked to be a founding member.

That bad blood worsened last May when an e-mail introduced in the Microsoft antitrust trial showed that Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates had said he would approve Microsoft's participation in WS-I only if Sun wasn't involved in its launch. At the time, a Sun insider also said there was other evidence showing that Microsoft and IBM voted against Sun's participation as a WS-I co-founder and wanted "to stick it to Sun" in the Web services game.

Sun finally joined WS-I in October when the organization decided to add two new members to its board of directors, opening the door for Sun to take a leadership position. Elections have not been held for those seats, but Sun officials have said Sun will vie for one of the seats.

Ironically enough, support for Web services interoperability in J2EE 1.4 likely will benefit Sun's Java software competitors BEA Systems and IBM more than it will Sun, said Jason Bloomberg, another ZapThink analyst.

Though Sun has been successful at building a strong community around Java, J2EE in particular, it hasn't been as successful in deriving profits from the sale of Java-based software, Bloomberg said.

"Driving the J2EE specification doesn't translate into software revenue very well, and Sun has historically had a difficult time driving software sales," Bloomberg said. "The Java people apparently don't talk that much to the software product people. The irony of this disconnect is that IBM and BEA stand to gain more in terms of revenue from the J2EE support of the WS-I Basic Profile than Sun does."

The news also comes at a time when Sun is embroiled in its own antitrust suit against Microsoft over what Sun alleges are deliberate attempts by Microsoft to prevent the proliferation of the Java platform.

On Monday, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals handed Microsoft a small victory in that case, granting the software giant's request for a stay pending appeal in the copyright infringement and Java-Must-Carry motions for preliminary injunction that the U.S. District Court announced on Dec. 23, 2002.

As a result, the injunctions, which would require Microsoft to include a current Java VM in Windows XP, will not go into effect unless they are upheld on appeal.

A Microsoft spokesperson Monday called the inclusion of the WS-I Basic Profile in J2EE 1.4 "yet another example of the widespread industry support for WS-I and the progress the organization is making to provide the necessary guidelines to enable interoperability."

The spokesperson said Microsoft will continue its active role as a founding board member of the WS-I and will fully support the Basic Profile once it is finalized.