Sun rises on Java

NEWS Sun Microsystems yesterday announced a raft of new proposals for its Java technology at the JavaOne Developer Conference in San Francisco. This included a partnership with 3Com for its Palm computers and an enhancement of the Java 2 platform with an Enterprise Edition. 3Com agreed to port Sun's Java 2 Platform and incorporate Sun's K Virtual Machine onto its Palm operating system, and also agreed to integrate Sun software into its Palm.net service for the Palm VII. The Enterprise Edition of the Java 2 Platform brings together all of Sun's mission critical enterprise applications for the new platform. Martin Brampton, senior analyst at Bloor Research, commented that the announcements were an important step forward for Java technology. "This is really taking the theory to reality," he said, "The Java 2 developments are the point at which Java is really maturing as a platform."