Java camp takes cue from Microsoft

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Microsoft's fiercest foes--Java software providers--are showing growing admiration for their powerful rival. The leading Java adherents--Sun Microsystems, BEA Systems, IBM and Oracle--have ratcheted up efforts to attract software developers through a tried-and-true Microsoft strategy: offering easy-to-use tools to drive adoption of more expensive server software.

The goal is to make Java the preferred software for building and deploying Web services applications, thereby driving sales of related software, including application servers, portal software and integration servers. Microsoft's successful Visual Basic tools, which allow developers to quickly build corporate applications, have long helped propel the growth of Windows-based software, particularly on desktop PCs. Since its emergence in the mid-1990s, Java, too, has been extremely successful. Java is used by millions of professional programmers, and Java-based server software is the only real alternative to Microsoft's .Net Web services software.

"There's only two stacks now, .Net and Java," Greg Papadopoulos, Sun's chief technology officer, said in an interview with CNET News.Com. "The world should have two, for competitive reasons." But Java's sophistication has also been its liability. Java 2 Enterprise Edition--the server version of Java--is industrial strength, but it requires highly trained programmers to design and code applications. By contrast, Microsoft's bread-and-butter business in the tools market has been relatively easy-to-use tools, notably Visual Basic, which allow less-skilled developers to quickly build Web applications.

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