Moderator (MDR): MDR-NancyLee

Guest-Speaker (SPK): SPK-Doug Kramer and SPK-Eric Chu

MDR-NancyLee: Welcome to the JDK 1.1 Forum. Hi Eric Chu and Doug Kramer. Welcome to our forum.

SPK-Doug Kramer: Hi!

SPK-Eric Chu: Hi!

MDR-NancyLee: Can you tell us what you do for JDK 1.1?

SPK-Eric Chu: I'm responsible for JDK product marketing.

SPK-Doug Kramer: I coordinate all the documentation for the JDK.

sbjackson: How often is 1.1 pre-release software going to be updated? Why is the latest update of the bug page Dec9? When are you going to fix the problem with Date() and System.getTimeMillis() (same problem really).

SPK-Eric Chu: The goal of our pre-release program is to solicit feedback on the quality of our JDK product. At any given time, if we find a bug that is blocking developers from test and/or using the beta release we'll release an update to resolve those specific bugs.

SPK-Doug Kramer: I can answer the questions about the Known Bugs. We are updating the Known Bugs list today. It should be out this afternoon. Is the Date() bug in the Known Bugs list? If not, have you submitted it?

JohnEng: Now that JDK 1.1 beta is out, when can we expect the major browsers to support it? Can we expect that in the first quarter of next year?

SPK-Eric Chu: We are working closely with all the major platform vendors such as Netscape, Apple, IBM, Microsoft, and others. We expect them to integrate JDK 1.1 as soon as their product release schedule permits. Based on some of the feedback we've been getting from our partners, we believe JDK 1.1 features will be integrated into all the major platforms three to six months after the FCS from JavaSoft.

SPK-Doug Kramer: I have a tip for you. Have you ever been cruising through the API documentation and wanted an example of the API you just looked up?

We recently put code examples up on the web for JDK 1.0.2—they include an example for every class, method and field in the JDK. It's located at:

http://java.sun.com/Series/ChanLee/examples.html

BillBryant: What level of I18N support is there currently in JDK1.1? Is it possible to write applications in a locale-independent manner and have it come up in any desired language?

SPK-Eric Chu: The answer is yes. In addition, developers are not restricted to a single global locale for an application/applet. Components within an application/applet can each display using a different locale.

sbjackson: I submitted the Date() bug last Wed., it was not in the list.

SPK-Doug Kramer: I don't know what the turnaround time is for getting submitted bugs into Bugtrak (our bug tracking program), but we'll find out later today when we post the Known Bugs.

qazwsxed: Do you support the concept of licensees using beta releases of your software
in their released product software?

SPK-Eric Chu: We do not have a mechanism for the inclusion of prerelease JDK in FCS products. As I mentioned earlier, the goal of prerelease is to solicit feedback only. The quality of prerelease software is not meant for production use. We are not that far away from JDK 1.1 FCS, please be patient...

jriedese: When can we expect a new set of books and/or other documentation
(besides the javadoc generated stuff) for 1.1?

SPK-Eric Chu: Our first priority is to provide the best foundation possible for writing applications and applets. However, we also see the need to provide some tools to ease the transition to newer APIs.

In JDK 1.1, we included a tool called updateAWT which scans through 1.02-based Java source and replaces/converts to the new API set.

SPK-Doug Kramer: We have about 300 pages of documentation in the JDK 1.1 release, not counting the javadoc-generated files (which, itself is over 400 pages). These will be refined somewhat before the final release of JDK, we are working on books on JDBC, RMI, and updating the Java Tutorial. The first two will be out in first quarter of 1997, I think. The Tutorial will be online, and we will be completing sections one at a time—first the AWT and Internationalization, and then the rest.

BillBryant: With all the API changes that are happening between major releases of JDK, are you planning on developing any tool that automatically translates code using old API's to the equivalent code using new API's (especially when some methods are deprecated/replaced etc)?

mcelwain: Regarding the documentation, I'm glad you've got some examples. Another useful feature for me, while reviewing the "Delegation Event Model", it would have been nice if, for example, in Button, it stated clearly that the Action Event is a click, that such and such events inherited from Component are supported in such and such a way. If each class had better descriptions it would ease the learning process. Any plans for this? When working with possibly buggy sofware it would be nice to know for sure what you "should" expect.

SPK-Doug Kramer: Yes, the examples are very useful. They are from the book "The Java Class Libraries: An Annotated Reference" by Patrick Chan and Rosanna Lee. I will note your suggestion for the Button class. The writer for AWT is Kathy Walrath, who is our most experienced writer here I'll pass along your suggestion for better descriptions to her.

mcelwain: Button was on over-simplified example, all the classes would be nice.

SPK-Doug Kramer: Yes, I am aware of that. Have you seen the book I mentioned previously?

JohnEng: In terms of performance, how does 1.1 compare to 1.0.2 when you run your benchmark tests (what benchmarks do you run, by the way?)

SPK-Eric Chu: Based on some of the initial benchmarks we've done, we find JDK 1.1 to be roughly two times faster than JDK 1.02 on certain specific features. We are still in the process of determining how these specific speedups translate to real-world performance.

SPK-Doug Kramer: While the "Annotated Reference" is not online (yet), it is a much better reference for learning. The javadoc-generated docs will never approach the level of description in the "Annotated Reference."

PaulWang: Are Beans and JDK going to be released at the same time as JDK 1.1 goes final?

SPK-Eric Chu: Our goal is to ship JavaBeans at the same time as JDK 1.1. The actually ship date for JavaBeans might be a few days behind.

synovatech: What is the status of the 1.1 printing functionality across the different platforms? I recently saw an article about an ISV marketing their own printing solution, claiming it wasn't going to be completely functional in JDK 1.1.

SPK-Eric Chu: JDK 1.1 adds the ability to print AWT components using the native platform printing facilities. Specific printing capabilities, such as page layout and paper handling, are tied to the native platform.

SPK-Doug Kramer: We provide the foundation classes for printing; other application will provide "ease of use."

qazwsxed: When do you think a JDK 1.1 version of the Chan/Lee book might be out?

SPK-Doug Kramer: Well, seeing that the original book was 1600 pages, and we will have to add an additional 1600 pages (vol II), this book will not be shipping when the JDK final release ships. It will ship sometime before June. We would very much like to speed up this process, but doing a complete job takes this much time.

PaulWang: I saw that there is now a Solaris JIT compiler from Sun. Will JIT compilers be included in 1.1 final?

SPK-Eric Chu: JDK 1.1 does not include any JIT. We expect platform vendors to update their
1.02 JITs for the JDK 1.1 based release.

PaulWang: I'm sure you had to defer some features from 1.1 to a later release. What can
you tell about what's coming NEXT?

SPK-Doug Kramer: We have a web page that lists some of the upcoming features: http://java.sun.com/products/JDK/1.1/jdkrelatedtech.html

It includes JavaBeans, JavaIDL, Native Threads for Solaris, Macintosh and Solaris X86.

SPK-Eric Chu: We're in the process of planning the next version of JDK. If you have any specific feature request, please send them in now.

SPK-Doug Kramer: Send requests to:

http://java.sun.com/products/JDK/1.1/bugreport.html

qazwsxed: Is the next JDK release a 1.2 or a 2.0?

SPK-Eric Chu: The specific name will be determined at a later time. We are more focused on making sure we have the right feature set at this point.

seosamh: I thought I saw references to a java.corba package in the preliminary JDK 1.1 proposal, but there doesn't seem to be any corba stuff in the JDK 1.1 beta. Is there continuing work on providing corba and corba.orb?

BTW, how much will the upgrade be to the Chan-Lee book <g>? Seriously, an "update" paperback might be nice. I do have the current version.

SPK-Eric Chu: JavaIDL has been decoupled from JDK 1.1 to allow sufficient time to standardize Java-to-CORBA connectivity. We are definitely working hard to standardize and ship JavaIDL as soon as it is ready.

SPK-Doug Kramer: The new version of the Chan-Lee book will probably be two volumes, with the classes arranged alphabetically. This means that you would have to buy both volumes to upgrade. This is an important question—would you prefer a "diffs" handbook, as you have suggested, in which the full set of classes would not be alphabetical? The problem with this is that 72 methods in AWT have been deprecated, and their replacement methods would appear in this "diffs" handbook. We see it as a confusing compromise, but I am open to suggestions.

seosamh: I would prefer to get a "diffs" handbook, and hold off on the larger expenditure till, say, JDK 2.0 or whatever. At some point the differences would make any "diffs" book unusable (maybe at 72). Come to think of it, I'll probably need the whole thing with that level of "diffs". Thanks.

SPK-Doug Kramer: Remember, the diffs book would probably 1000 pages or more, unless you just want a cursory listing of the API. I'd like to do a spot survey. How many of you are interested in having a PostScript version of our HTML documentation? I'm talking about all of the docs included in the JDK: Release Notes, API Reference Docs, Guide and Tool docs. This would facilitate your printing it out, and would require a little extra effort on our part, using the Perl utility html2ps.

PaulWang: How often should we expect FCS releases? At my company we have to be cutting edge, but we have to use final releases...

SPK-Eric Chu: As we mentioned earlier, we're in the process of planning the next release of JDK. Specific details on features and release date will be announced early next year. Our goal is to ship a new release in the second half of 1997 if resource and schedule permits.

In addition, we will also be shipping new features in modular form that can be plugged in JDK 1.1. JavaBeans is an example of our future direction.

MDR-NancyLee: Here are the results from our spot survey. 4 out of 6 would like to see the PostScript version. As our time is out, any final comments from our guests?

SPK-Doug Kramer: We are very receptive to comment from the developers. You can send any doc-related questions to docwebmaster@java.sun.com or JDK-specific questions about the docs to jdk-comments@java.sun.com.

SPK-Eric Chu: As some of you might already be aware, we've rolled out a new program
called 100% pure Java. The goal of this program is to simplify the development and deployment of Java-based applications/applets. As a developer, if it is important for you to have cross-platform deployment, make sure your Java program only uses APIs that are in the JDK product. If you Java program only uses JDK APIs, written completely in Java, and comes bundled with any additional class libraries that are used, your application is qualified for the 100% Pure Java branding. Thanks a lot for all your support and keep send us feedback to help us determine what's important for the developer community.

MDR-NancyLee: Thanks for joining us. Happy holidays! Join us again in the New Year. Last moderator (me) signing off. The forum is now unmoderated.