-Welcome- to the Java^TM Developer Connection^SM Newsletter, covering Early Access software releases, new products, developer programs, and more. The JDC Team-

Product News

• Early Access Developer Release Software
• Java^TM Shared Data Toolkit Now Available
• Java^TM Message Service 1.0 API Specification Released
• JavaCheck 3.0 Beta Released
• JavaMail 1.1 Ships
• Java Naming and Directory Interface^TM Released
• Java^TM Technology for Programmable Logic Devices
• Swing.News
• JavaBeans^TM in the News

Inside The JDC

• New on the JDC
• PersonalJava^TM Application Contest
• Over Half Million JDC Members Served
• JDC Featured on Upcoming Dr. Dobb's TechNetCast

Developer Programs and Resources

• Sun^TM Developer Essentials^TM Ships
• Java^SM University^SM Education Conference
• Java^TM Foundation Classes Seminar
• Transitioning to JDK^TM 1.2 Seminar
• Software Association for Java Platform Developers
• Is Your Software 100% Pure Java^TM?
• Java Platform Events
• Visit Sun's Java Technology Web Site

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Product News

http://java.sun.com/jdc/earlyAccess/index.html

Java^TM Shared Data Toolkit Now Available. Provides developers with functionality to create highly interactive and collaborative applications for the enterprise. The product is designed for developing shared white boards, chat forums, remote presentations, and other applications that benefit from concurrent use by multiple clients. For more information, or to purchase, see:

http://java.sun.com/products/java-media/jsdt

Java^TM Message Service 1.0 API Specification Released. Technology designed for developing enterprise messaging applications written in the Java programming language. By combining Java technology with enterprise messaging, Java Message Service (JMS) provides a new tool for resolving enterprise computing problems. Enterprise messaging provides a reliable, flexible service for the asynchronous exchange of critical business data and events throughout an enterprise. JMS is also designed to improve programmer productivity by defining a common set of messaging concepts and programming strategies to be supported by JMS-compliant messaging systems. More information, see:

http://java.sun.com/products/jms

JavaCheck 3.0 Beta Released. A developer tool designed to ensure that applications and applets are compatible with Java language platforms and able to run on many types of devices. The software tests to determine if Java language class files used by an application or applet conform to a particular Java platform API specification, such as the PersonalJava^TM Specification. For more information, see:

http://java.sun.com/products/
personaljava/javacheck.html

JavaMail 1.1 Ships. Provides a set of abstract classes that model a mail system. The JavaMail API provides a platform- and protocol-independent framework for building Java language-based mail and messaging applications. The API is implemented as a Java language standard extension. A royalty-free reference implementation in binary form is provided that developers can use and ship. This release contains the final version of the JavaMail 1.1 implementation, and includes implementations of the core JavaMail packages. Also included are implementations of the IMAP and SMTP service providers. For information, see:

http://java.sun.com/products/javamail/index.html

Java Naming and Directory Interface^TM Released. JNDI is a Java Standard Extension, providing Java applications with a unified interface to multiple naming and directory services in the enterprise. As part of the Java Enterprise API set, JNDI enables seamless connectivity to heterogeneous enterprise naming and directory services. This release is a bug-fix release, and contains no new features or API changes. For information, see:

http://java.sun.com/products/jndi/

Java^TM Technology for Programmable Logic Devices. Sun Microsystems^TM announces a new API to bring open standards and Java platform compatibility to programmable electronic system design. The technology extends the functionality of Sun's smallest Java virtual machine¹ -- currently used with the Java Card API -- to a market beyond the smart card. The new API specification will be designed to provide a blueprint to assist developers in generating applications for the dynamic testing, debugging, and reconfiguration of programmable logic devices (PLDs).

The new API will be designed to be deployed by PLD suppliers, manufacturers of automatic test equipment, device programmers, and software developers. The API is expected to provide a solution for unifying the generation and distribution of programs required for configuring, testing, and debugging in system programmable devices and boundary-scan chips that are compliant with the IEEE 1149.1 standard, while offering manufacturers of electronic equipment the flexibility and power that customers need in networked environments. For more information, see:

http://java.sun.com/pr/1998/09/pr980909-02.html

Swing.News. Swing 1.1 Beta 2 released. This Early Access release provides stability and performance enhancements, plus improved accessibility support in Swing components. To access, see:

http://java.sun.com/jdc/earlyAccess/index.html

JavaBeans^TM in the News. The InfoBus 1.1.1 specification is now available. The specification contains changes in the form of new classes to improve support for InfoBus-aware components and applications in builder tools. InfoBus enables dynamic exchange of data between JavaBeans components by defining a small number of interfaces between cooperating JavaBeans, and specifying the protocol for use of the interfaces. The protocols are based on the notion of an information bus. All the components that implement the interfaces can plug into the bus, and as a member of the bus, any component can exchange data with any other component in a structured way that includes arrays, tables, and database rowsets. For information, see:

http://java.sun.com/beans/infobus

— Fall '98 Java^TM Developer Kitchen^SM

Featuring Java technology development in two comprehensive technical tracks: JDK 1.2, Java Foundation Classes (JFC), Enterprise JavaBeans In-Depth, and Writing Server Side Java Applications Using Servlets. Each topic presented is a full day event, and group discounts are available.

Dates, location, and registration: Long Branch NJ - September 24-25, 1998, Cambridge MA - October 1-2, 1998, Research Triangle Park NC - October 5-6, 1998, Cincinnati OH - October 13-14, 1998, Denver CO - October 19-20, 1998, Dallas TX - October 26-27, 1998, Santa Clara CA - November 2-3, 1998, Portland OR - November 9-10, 1998, Vancouver - November 12-13, 1998, Southfield MI - November 19-20, 1998, Chicago IL - November 23-24, 1998, Minneapolis MN - November 30-December 1, 1998, Atlanta GA - December 3-4, 1998, Long Beach CA - December 7-8, 1998, Toronto - December 10-11, 1998. For more information, and to register, see:

http://www.nova-labs.com

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Inside The JDC

http://java.sun.com/jdc/

PersonalJava^TM Application Contest. Submit your applications by September 30 -- and become eligible to win cash prizes and public relations support. For details, see:

http://developer.java.sun.com/developer/pjava/contest/

Over Half Million JDC Members Served. More than 560,000 Java platform developers are now registered as JDC members. Other notable facts:

• JDC registrations come from more than 200 countries
• Approximately 12,000 visitors use the JDC every day
• New registrations total between 7,000 and 9,000 each week
• 50,000 unique logins occur every week

http://java.sun.com/jdc

JDC Featured on Upcoming Dr. Dobb's TechNetCast. Tune in at 3 pm (US Eastern time) to find out more about the JDC, the Java platform, and Java application development. Dr. Dobb's TechNetCast is an Internet-based, interactive, audio/video program about software development. Viewers can participate by using Web chat, or by calling in questions and talking directly with the guests. Advance questions can also be posted to the TechNetCast forum or sent by email. For more information, see:

http://www.technetcast.com

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Developer Programs and Resources

http://java.sun.com/products/jdk/1.1/

Java^TM University^SM Education Conference. Presented by Sun Microsystems, the conference provides two concurrent educational programs: the Java University Developers Program for skilled software developers, and the Java University Business Program for business executives, IT professionals, resellers, and ISVs.

— Dates, location, and registration

At Internet World Fall, October 7-9, at Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York City, and at Comdex Fall, November 14-19 at Sands Expo & Convention Center in Las Vegas. For more information, and to register, see:

http://www.sun.com/java-university

Java^TM Foundation Classes (JFC) Seminar. A two-day, intensive seminar from Sun Educational Services: "Developing with the JDK 1.2 JFC Components: Project Swing Components." Find out how to achieve a smooth transition from the Abstract Windowing Toolkit (AWT) to the Java Foundation Classes (JFC), discover the benefits of Java Foundation Classes technology, and examine the Model-View-Controller paradigm and see how it fits into software development. Designed for: skilled Java platform developers, senior programmers, analysts, software engineers, application developers, system architects, Webmasters, and consultants.

— Dates, location, and registration

Boston - September 30-1, 1998, Washington DC - October 14-15, 1998, Chicago - October 28-29, 1998, New York City - November 12-13, 1998. For more information and registration, see:

http://suned.sun.com/usa/course_specials.html

Transitioning to JDK^TM 1.2 Seminar from Sun Educational Services: "Java^TM Development Kit Software 1.1 - 1.2 Enhancements." Discover how to master the major technologies of JDK 1.2: including Security, Java Foundation Classes, Java Remote Method Invocation, JavaBeans System Enhancements, Collections, and more. Who should attend: skilled developers and programmers, analysts, application developers, engineers, system architects, Webmasters, and consultants using the Java programming language.

— Dates, location, and registration

Boston - September 28-29, 1998, Washington DC - October 12-13, 1998, Chicago - October 26-27, 1998, New York City - November 10-11, 1998, San Francisco - December 14-15, 1998. For more information and registration, see:

http://suned.sun.com/usa/course_specials.html

Software Association for Java Platform Developers. The Software Publishers Association (SPA) is the world's largest software trade group, and provides Java platform developers with publications and resources to assist in marketing, public relations, and operations. In addition to in-depth benchmarking surveys and general anti-piracy protection, the SPA delivers strong lobbying for policies important to developers, such as competitiveness, encryption, and R and D tax credits. The SPA membership fee starts at $495, and increases based on a company's size. Sun Microsystems Java platform developers are eligible for a 10 percent discount on membership fees. For membership details, see:

http://www.spa.org/member/java.html

Is Your Software 100% Pure Java^TM? Add your application to the over 400 applications already certified, and take advantage of Sun's developer programs. Take the first step! And test your software with JavaPureCheck^TM, the free utility that tests your code for you. For more information, and to find out how easy it is to certify, see the following:

http://java.sun.com/100percent/download.html

http://java.sun.com/100percent/cert_steps.html

Java Platform Events. To find out about upcoming industry expos, tradeshows, and conferences, see the Java technology calendar of events at:

http://java.sun.com/nav/new/calendar.html

Visit Sun's Java Technology Web Site.

http://java.sun.com

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¹ As used on this web site, the terms "Java virtual machine" or "JVM" mean a virtual machine for the Java platform.

— Feedback —

Comments? Send your feedback on the JDC Newsletter to: JDCNewsletter@Sun.com