Picture 2.pngLast week saw a flurry of news, announcements, webcasts, and information around the Oracle-Sun acquisition.

In fact, there was so much detail it is easy to miss some of it … so I thought I’d summarize the most significant bits focusing on Java and the Java ecosystem (keep in mind that more information is becoming available on a daily basis so this is necessarily incomplete).

This is part 1 which is about the Java strategy. Part 2 (tomorrow) will be about Java developer tools, and part 3 (the day after) will be on developer communities.

Today, let’s dive into the webcast I already pointed out in my last blog:

The Oracle + Sun: Java Strategy Webcast, with Hassan Rizivi, VP of Oracle Fusion Middleware Development and Jeet Kaul, VP of Java Development.

High-level summary of the webcast:

  • Continued investment in Java platform across a range of servers and devices
  • Fuel futher innovation in the Java platform and JavaFX
  • Continue to support developer community, open source, and JCP

Specific talking points:

  • Java is critical to the IT industry, from smart cards all the way to enterprise servers
  • There are 9 million Java developers around the world, making Java the most popular programming language
  • Oracle relies heavily on Java: Middleware already is built on Java and future applications will be built on Java
  • Oracle has a long history of Java innovation and success
  • Oracle has been a JCP EC member for a long time
  • Continue to drive Java as the most widely used, productive, innovative, reliable, performant, and pervasive platform
  • HotSpot and JRocket continue to be strategic JVMs going forward
  • JDK 7 work continues, releases coming up in 2010, including improvements for dynamic languages
  • Java SE (desktop) is a core area of continued investment
  • Java EE (enterprise): Glassfish continues as the Java EE reference implementation and open source project (Oracle has already contributed to the Glassfish community in the past). See also Arun Gupta’s blog on Glassfish.
  • Java ME (mobile Java): Continue to advance the platform, improve performance, deliver optimized implementations, bring JavaFX to mobile
  • Unification of Java ME and Java SE APIs and capabilities
  • Improve interoperability between Java, JavaFX, and JavaScript
  • JavaFX is the platform for cross-platform content delivery, complementing Oracle’s existing technologies
  • Oracle will expand partnerships around embedded Java
  • The Java for Business support program will continue and expand under Oracle
  • JavaOne: Continues as open community event for Java, co-located with Oracle Open World in San Francisco (Sep 19-23, 2010), plus taking JavaOne on the road to Brazil, Russia, India, China

It’s clear that Oracle understands the importance of Java for its own business as well as for the IT industry as a whole. I’m happy to see a focus on the important topics that matter to developers and the Java ecosystem. Stay tuned.

For further information:

  • Be sure to bookmark the Oracle and Sun top-level page, which includes press releases, and information on products, downloads, customers and partners, support/services/sales, keynotes, and more
  • Also see the the Oracle + Sun Product Strategy Webcast Series containing videos on hardware, systems, software, solutions, and partner strategy

Cheers,

— Terrence