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By Sarah Left, 10 December 1999 00:25

NEWS Analysts are today responding to Sun's decision to remove Java from the standards process. The company withdrew Java from consideration by the European Computer Manufacturers Association (ECMA), claiming it needed to "ensure compatibility and continued rapid pace of innovation." Sun clearly hopes Java's status as a de facto standard will be enough without have to hand over control of the language to an independent standards body. Clive Longbottom, analyst with Strategy Partners, said the move means Java has no hope of taking over as a back-end technology, and will have to be content with replacing Visual Basic in the front end. "This is the nail in the coffin of Java as a standard," he commented. "It becomes just another programming language, like C++." But Robin Bloor, CEO of Bloor Research, said Sun's long history of openness could see its technology through the current crisis. "Java is the most important technology in the industry right now, and Sun being seen as proprietary is negative. Sun needs to really explain its intentions with Java. They should come up with a plan that explains how they'll make it an open standard," he said. David Burman, director of research at the Butler Group, agreed. "I suspect this will not be particularly well-received by the user community, because Sun retains 70 to 80 per cent of the copyright. Having said that, there is often strength in a strong proprietary focus on a particular technology, as it will be less fragmented than if other players are involved." Both Burman and Bloor noted that Java probably has enough momentum to go it alone, without the rubber stamp of a standards body.