Web services top JavaOne agenda

Sun Microsystems kicked off the 2001 JavaOne Developer Conference by highlighting how Java technology and XML will build a new, enhanced generation of open web services.

The company also announced new wireless developer and content creator support through the Java Wireless Developer initiative.

Java lets developers write their applications just once, then run them on practically any hardware and operating system.

Sun officials said that web-centric applications, together with XML, breathe new life into Java development and its Sun ONE framework. The company also said that it will recast the Java 2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE) and its own products to coexist with web services standards.

Sun competitors BEA System and IBM intend to outline their own plans to tie Java and web services later on this week at the conference.

"With web services you can argue that all you need is XML," said George Paolini, Sun's outgoing vice president of technology and marketing. "But you still need applications to run your business logic."

Sun plans to make several announcements detailing new web services support in its iPlanet Application Server products and Forte development tools.

The iPlanet Web Server release 6.0, generally available on 4 June, includes a feature designed for service providers allowing them to run up to 4000 virtual servers off one instance of the web server, according to Sun.

Some of the biggest wireless players came together at the conference. Nokia president Pekko Ala-Pietila is a scheduled speaker, and wireless giants such as Japan's NTT DoCoMo are expected to detail how subscribers can utilise Java-powered services such as mobile phone games.

Wireless software maker ThinAirApps is also expected to demonstrate a faster way to build mobile phone applications using Java, while Nextel Communications will announce a trial run of Java applications on its US network.

Among the announcements this week will be a bundle for developers of Java APIs for XML parsing, packaging and routing.

Several of Sun's partners will also be making news at the conference. Oracle will unveil its 9i application server, the first version to be certified J2EE-compliant, and the middleware division of Hewlett Packard will release its implementation of Java Services Framework, a specification that describes how to assemble components into Java server applications.