Oracle expands support for Java across product line Java served up in various blends By Torsten Busse

April  1998

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As expected, Oracle today announced that it will integrate Sun Microsystems Inc.'s Java programming language with its database, applications and development tools, saying the language lowers deployment costs, simplifies operations and increases access to data and applications.

Oracle will serve up Java in various blends, roasts and flavors with and without milk, company executives said, adding the company is not "into religion here."

"It's about integrating front and back office applications with a data warehouse to allow for more efficient decision making," said Mark Jarvis, Oracle's vice president of systems products, speaking at the Java Strategy Day held at the company's shiny headquarters here.

Oracle, the closest ally of Sun Microsystems in its quest to turn Java into a ubiquitous programming and application environment, outlined a Java roadmap for 1998. This calls for Java support in virtually all of the company's products and tools and across its three-tiered Network Computing Architecture including clients, applications servers and database servers, Jarvis said.

Specifics of Oracle's plans include the following:

• Oracle 8.1, the upcoming upgrade of the company's flagship database due out at the end of the year will feature Java support. Oracle 8.1 will feature a Java execution environment inside the database server and a Java Virtual Machine. In addition the database server will run Enterprise Java Beans (EJB) internally, allowing clients and components to directly access the database. Also new will be support to and from the database server of the CORBA/IIOP (Common Object Request Broker Architecture and Internet InterOrb Protocol) object request broker framework for component interaction. Oracle also said it will put Java on par with its current SQL and PL/SQL database programming languages, in an attempt to reduce the amount of code programmers have to learn and write.

• In order to allow developers to begin building Java applications that will run inside the database Oracle is shipping the software developers kit for Oracle8 release 8.1. today.

• On the applications front Oracle said it will "rebuild" its applications using its Oracle Designer 2000 and Developer 2000 tools, in order to support Java across the three-tier architecture, while enhancing the underlying business logic of the applications using EJBs on the database or application servers, said Peter Heller, director of product marketing at Oracle's applications unit. Java-enabling Oracle's applications -- a US$1.5 billion business for Oracle -- allows them to support a larger user population, lowers operational cost and network traffic and reduces desktop administration cost to zero, since Java applets are down-loaded to the client as needed, Heller said.

• Available today is the company's JDeveloper Suite 1.0, featuring the company's AppBuilder for Java, the Oracle Application Server 4.0 and Oracle 8 Data Server and Symantec's Visual Page HTML editor. The suite lets users build server-based applications that move application logic from the client to the applications server. The suite is integrated with the Oracle Applications Server 4.0 and offers embedded Java DBC drivers for Java native links to Oracle 7 and 8 databases. Pricing information was not available.

• In the third quarter of 1998, Oracle will offer an Oracle Lite version of its database server which will run on PDAs and other thin clients, Jarvis said.

• In the fourth quarter of this year Oracle will offer new versions of its Applications Builder for Java 2.0 and Developer 2000 for Java, Jarvis said.

--Torsten Busse is a correspondent for the IDG News Service, a SunWorld affiliate

Resources

• Oracle http://www.oracle.com/

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