Edition: U.S. / Global

Java's Universality Is a Threat to Microsoft

Published: November 19, 1998

Why is Java such a big deal?

Java, the programming language at issue in the contract dispute between the Microsoft Corporation and Sun Microsystems, is fundamentally different from other computer languages like C, C++, Pascal or Basic.

Other programming languages are dependent on the underlying operating system that controls the basic functions of the computer running the programs. A program written in C++ for an Apple Computer Macintosh will not work on a personal computer using the Microsoft Windows operating system.

But Java -- invented by Sun Microsystems, which controls Java licensing -- is intended to act as a lingua franca of computing. Java enables software to be used over networks -- especially over the Internet -- by many kinds of computers running sundry operating systems.

Thanks to Java, a graphic artist with an Apple Macintosh computer running the Mac operating system, an engineer on a Sun Microsystems Sparc work station running a version of the Unix operating system and a student with a Pentium-chip personal computer running the Microsoft Windows operating system can all play poker with one another other on the Yahoo World Wide Web site. That's because the poker game is written in Java, which can operate on those different computers at the same time, over the network.

But this works-anywhere flexibility also means that from a programmer's point of view Java makes all operating systems equal. And that poses a serious threat to Microsoft, whose market dominance is based on the fact that its Windows operating system is the industry standard -- controlling the basic operations of some 90 percent of PC's sold.

Revolutionary as Java may sound, though, programs written in this language are not always impressive. For any given computer to use a Java program, each line of code -- or each block of re-usable code known as an ''object'' -- must be interpreted before it can be understood by the operating system, which then must translate it yet again for its instructions to be understood by the computer's microprocessor chip.

Even though Java's speed has improved a great deal in the last 18 months, all this translating means that running a Java program can still be excruciatingly slow compared with running the same program written in a language like C.

And yet the Java interpreter, known as the ''virtual machine,'' or V.M. software, is also the language's greatest strength. It allows for the ''write once, run anywhere'' capability that enables programmers to create a single piece of software that can be understood by any major operating system. Thus, Java software can not only cut development time for individual programs but can also result in programs that have a much larger potential market than programs written in other languages.

In addition, once a user installs Java -- which happens automatically when a Web browser is installed -- the Java virtual machine resides permanently on the user's hard drive. From then on, it stands ready to run a Java program whenever it is needed. This is what is known in computer jargon as a ''platform'' -- that is, foundation software on with other programs run.

The advantage this holds for the Internet is that tiny bits of Java code, known as applets, can be sent to and used by any kind of computer that has a Java virtual machine. The small size of the applets makes them usable even on computers with slow Internet links like dial-up modems.

All of this poses a threat to Microsoft because it marginalizes the importance of Microsoft's platform, the Windows operating system.

In the conventional computing world, in which programs run on only one operating system, Microsoft's Windows tends to be a self-perpetuating monopoly. If a user has invested several thousand dollars in software that will run only on Windows, he is not likely to switch to a Macintosh computer or to install, say, a Unix operating system, because in addition to the cost of the new machine, he will have to buy all new software.

But if at some point in the future that same user could purchase all Java software, he would have much more freedom to change computers and operating systems. While that is not now possible, a number of major software developers, including the International Business Machines Corporation, its Lotus subsidiary and the Corel Corporation have committed to major development of Java software.