AlbertPacino
Explorer
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Thanks to Gosling's code, most programs used on the Internet can now run on almost any hardware platform, whether it's the Macintosh or a PC, cell phone or mainframe. As Java passed its 10th anniversary recently, he reminisced about the technology's past with BusinessWeek Computers Editor Peter Burrows and shared his excitement for Java's future. Following are edited excerpts of their conversation:
Q: As I understand it, Java began as a technology for use in interactive TV and quickly morphed into something with broader implications. How did that happen?
A: Actually, when the project first started, we weren't focused on interactive television. A few of us had gone off to think about where digital systems were going, and one particularly fascinating piece of the universe was in embedded systems -- consumer systems like telephones and televisions or in industrial products such as locomotives and elevators. It was clear digital systems were going into more and more of these products, so we built a prototype [of Java-like software] to reflect what we were seeing.
Then we decided to focus on just one thing, and our first stab at it was a response to an RFP [request for proposal] that Time Warner (TWX ) put out for something called a full-service network in 1992 or 1993. That's what sent us down the interactive-TV direction, but we had a whole series of ideas for things we felt were likely to happen.
Q: And were you right? Has Java lived up to your expectations?
A:"Expectation" is kind of a funny word because I don't think I had expectations of anything. You look at the pressures that are pushing technology forward and pushing the world forward, and you make guesses and try to figure out how that changes the game and what technology fits into that game. The really lucky thing was we ended up reading the tea leaves correctly and guessing the direction things were going to take.
On the other hand, I'm surprised because it felt at first like an exercise in science fiction, so none of us would have guessed at the scale of things. I would have been overwhelmingly happy if one university professor decided to teach this stuff in class. Now, Java is taught in almost every computer science program.
Q: How has becoming known as "the father of Java" changed your life, personally?
A: In some sense, it kind of ruined my life. I'm absolutely an engineer, a scientist kind of guy. I've kind of learned how to have a public presence. But it doesn't give me the same kind of job satisfaction that building something does.
Q: Before Sun signed a partnership with Microsoft (MSFT ) last year, the two companies fought bitterly over Java. How much did that hurt Java's progress?
A:There are so many ways to answer that question. There's the trite old line about how no publicity is bad publicity. And there's certainly a big pile of folks out there who view Microsoft as an agent of the anti-Christ, and Sun as a great shining hope to rescue the world from Satan. It was certainly the case that when we settled, a lot of people were really, really mad at us. It was quite funny.
An awful lot of this was from people who wanted us to keep fighting -- just to keep fighting. We'd won every court case, we'd collected a big bucket of cash, and as near as anyone could tell, we'd won -- but they wanted us to keep fighting anyway, just for the sake of fighting. It was hopelessly distracting.
Q: Are Java's best days behind or still ahead?
A:It's a bit of both. It has become very mature in a number of areas. But in a number of areas, it's just beginning, like in the embedded world and in cell phones.
Q: Where is Java heading in the future?
A:The thing I've been most involved with is the embedded world. People are embedding Java into really interesting devices. These folks tend to move very, very slowly -- people who do avionics or automotive control systems or heating control systems. But there's a lot of interesting work being done.
There are diagnostics systems for gas stations or locomotives, so you can tune a locomotive while [it's] in motion. You might have a locomotive hurtling down the tracks, but you can't have the world's best locomotive mechanic on every train. But if the train can sense something is funny and cause a screen to pop up on that mechanic's desk, he can do some tuning and maintenance remotely.
And there are some [experiments] in the automotive world that are pretty entertaining. To be able to pull out your cell phone and say, "Please lock yourself," that'd be pretty neat.
Q: What's your personal pet peeve that you think Java might help fix in the future?
A:Just getting my home-entertainment system straight. We've got all of these technologies that are supposed to move media around our homes, but it's this dog's breakfast of agendas [from various suppliers] that makes things just impossible.
The [Motion Picture Association of America] has been shooting down anyone who wants to do anything sensible, forcing people like TiVo (TIVO ) to do all kinds of nonsensical things [like making it impossible to skip commercials]. I'd like to have more systems in my house far more open. I'd love to be able to get my car and house talking to each other, or have my telephones and other gear talking to each other, so the frigging CD player or the TV pauses when I answer a phone call.
Q: I understand you're a big Apple Computer (AAPL ) fan. Is that right?
A:I have a bit of a love-hate thing with them. I've got half a dozen Macs at home. I use one as my DVD player, and I travel with a Mac laptop. I think they do really nice designs.
But trying to deal with the company is so hard. Everything is a secret. They don't tell their partners anything. We've been trying to cooperate with them on Java, but there's not much we can do, since the cult of secrecy makes it impossible for anyone over there to tell us anything.
Q: Many people have tried to take credit for Java's success over the years. At this 10-year anniversary, are there any unsung heroes?
A:One of the things that has always kind of bugged me is everyone talks about me as the guy who created Java. That was true up until about 8 to 10 years ago. I wrote the first thing. But you look at the engineering teams we have today -- we have many really talented people that nobody ever hears of.
Source
Thanks to Gosling's code, most programs used on the Internet can now run on almost any hardware platform, whether it's the Macintosh or a PC, cell phone or mainframe. As Java passed its 10th anniversary recently, he reminisced about the technology's past with BusinessWeek Computers Editor Peter Burrows and shared his excitement for Java's future. Following are edited excerpts of their conversation:
Q: As I understand it, Java began as a technology for use in interactive TV and quickly morphed into something with broader implications. How did that happen?
A: Actually, when the project first started, we weren't focused on interactive television. A few of us had gone off to think about where digital systems were going, and one particularly fascinating piece of the universe was in embedded systems -- consumer systems like telephones and televisions or in industrial products such as locomotives and elevators. It was clear digital systems were going into more and more of these products, so we built a prototype [of Java-like software] to reflect what we were seeing.
Then we decided to focus on just one thing, and our first stab at it was a response to an RFP [request for proposal] that Time Warner (TWX ) put out for something called a full-service network in 1992 or 1993. That's what sent us down the interactive-TV direction, but we had a whole series of ideas for things we felt were likely to happen.
Q: And were you right? Has Java lived up to your expectations?
A:"Expectation" is kind of a funny word because I don't think I had expectations of anything. You look at the pressures that are pushing technology forward and pushing the world forward, and you make guesses and try to figure out how that changes the game and what technology fits into that game. The really lucky thing was we ended up reading the tea leaves correctly and guessing the direction things were going to take.
On the other hand, I'm surprised because it felt at first like an exercise in science fiction, so none of us would have guessed at the scale of things. I would have been overwhelmingly happy if one university professor decided to teach this stuff in class. Now, Java is taught in almost every computer science program.
Q: How has becoming known as "the father of Java" changed your life, personally?
A: In some sense, it kind of ruined my life. I'm absolutely an engineer, a scientist kind of guy. I've kind of learned how to have a public presence. But it doesn't give me the same kind of job satisfaction that building something does.
Q: Before Sun signed a partnership with Microsoft (MSFT ) last year, the two companies fought bitterly over Java. How much did that hurt Java's progress?
A:There are so many ways to answer that question. There's the trite old line about how no publicity is bad publicity. And there's certainly a big pile of folks out there who view Microsoft as an agent of the anti-Christ, and Sun as a great shining hope to rescue the world from Satan. It was certainly the case that when we settled, a lot of people were really, really mad at us. It was quite funny.
An awful lot of this was from people who wanted us to keep fighting -- just to keep fighting. We'd won every court case, we'd collected a big bucket of cash, and as near as anyone could tell, we'd won -- but they wanted us to keep fighting anyway, just for the sake of fighting. It was hopelessly distracting.
Q: Are Java's best days behind or still ahead?
A:It's a bit of both. It has become very mature in a number of areas. But in a number of areas, it's just beginning, like in the embedded world and in cell phones.
Q: Where is Java heading in the future?
A:The thing I've been most involved with is the embedded world. People are embedding Java into really interesting devices. These folks tend to move very, very slowly -- people who do avionics or automotive control systems or heating control systems. But there's a lot of interesting work being done.
There are diagnostics systems for gas stations or locomotives, so you can tune a locomotive while [it's] in motion. You might have a locomotive hurtling down the tracks, but you can't have the world's best locomotive mechanic on every train. But if the train can sense something is funny and cause a screen to pop up on that mechanic's desk, he can do some tuning and maintenance remotely.
And there are some [experiments] in the automotive world that are pretty entertaining. To be able to pull out your cell phone and say, "Please lock yourself," that'd be pretty neat.
Q: What's your personal pet peeve that you think Java might help fix in the future?
A:Just getting my home-entertainment system straight. We've got all of these technologies that are supposed to move media around our homes, but it's this dog's breakfast of agendas [from various suppliers] that makes things just impossible.
The [Motion Picture Association of America] has been shooting down anyone who wants to do anything sensible, forcing people like TiVo (TIVO ) to do all kinds of nonsensical things [like making it impossible to skip commercials]. I'd like to have more systems in my house far more open. I'd love to be able to get my car and house talking to each other, or have my telephones and other gear talking to each other, so the frigging CD player or the TV pauses when I answer a phone call.
Q: I understand you're a big Apple Computer (AAPL ) fan. Is that right?
A:I have a bit of a love-hate thing with them. I've got half a dozen Macs at home. I use one as my DVD player, and I travel with a Mac laptop. I think they do really nice designs.
But trying to deal with the company is so hard. Everything is a secret. They don't tell their partners anything. We've been trying to cooperate with them on Java, but there's not much we can do, since the cult of secrecy makes it impossible for anyone over there to tell us anything.
Q: Many people have tried to take credit for Java's success over the years. At this 10-year anniversary, are there any unsung heroes?
A:One of the things that has always kind of bugged me is everyone talks about me as the guy who created Java. That was true up until about 8 to 10 years ago. I wrote the first thing. But you look at the engineering teams we have today -- we have many really talented people that nobody ever hears of.
Source