MS stands firm on policy to alter Java

Software Vendor outlines reasons for modifying Sun platform.

Microsoft has claimed in a presentation to US District Judge Ronald Whyte last week that it was justified in modifying Java.

The software giant maintained its position even if it meant Java applications written for Windows could not run elsewhere, because it was attempting to address what it perceived were the shortcomings of the language.

Microsoft claimed it decided to adjust the programming language because Java contained a limited number of class libraries or code that enabled users to insert features into an application, without the need to undertake hand coding.

But, according to Greg Di-Michille, product manager at Microsoft, these class libraries were the lowest common denominator and only included basic functions common to all operating systems.

As a result, Microsoft felt entitled to add application programming interfaces (APIs) to Java that would enable developers to take advantage of the more sophisticated features in Windows.

But DiMichille claimed writing to such APIs was optional. Programmers using version 6 of its Visual J development tool were not forced to build Windows-only packages because they could switch Windows-based enhancements on and off using a mode switch.

He continued: 'The lives are full of developers are full of trade-offs.

There are differences among platforms - in APIs, in features, in what hardware they run on - and the OS competes on which has the best features.'

Sun maintained that Microsoft had deliberately added compiler directives and two keywords into Visual J that could only be understood by its own implementation of the Java Virtual Machine - a move that destroyed the language's stated aim of portability across all platforms.

Microsoft had also refused to support Sun's Java Native Interface which dictates how Java code interacts with native C and C++ code and had instead developed its own.

This resulted in a Windows-only dialect of Java by preventing compatibility with other languages at the native interface level.

To back up his case, Bud Tribble, vice president of Sun, showed the court a video that showed a group of developers building an application using Visual J, only to discover it was not cross-platform. When Microsoft's compiler directives were removed after the application was finished, it became apparent that the package could not run anywhere, let alone under Windows.

The two-hour presentations by both sides were intended to bring Judge Whyte up to speed on Java in preparation for next week's hearing on whether Sun should be granted a temporary injuction to prevent Microsoft shipping its Windows 98 operating system and Visual J development tools.