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Why enhanced meta-object protocols are essential
support for reusable distributed components on the Internet ...
30 October 1997 Java
Goes Meta!
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Mark
Baker, a contributor to the OOPSLA
Business Object Workshop, noted Alan Kay's comments in a keynote address
that Java will not handle the demands of distributed computing on the Internet
because it has no meta-object model. Since then he has found two Java implementations
of meta-object protocols.
29 October 1997 Chronicles
of the Internet Wars
JavaWorld
Letters to the Editor moves the Microsoft/Java issue to the top of
the charts again today!
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The Java Lobby turned up the heat with its requests
to Microsoft to ship a fully-compliant Java core platform in the new release
of IE, and to support all future APIs from Sun. Find
out how Microsoft responded to the Lobby's requests in this tell-all.
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As a result of the JavaWorld article, the hit
rate has reached all time highs on my paper Microsoft
and the Internet Wars: Freedom Fighters.3.96
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Here is my answer to calls and email from the
Java Lobby, the editors of JavaWorld, and Microsoft:
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In March of 1996, my article on Sun's JavaDay
received rave reviews - Road
Kill on the Information Highway: JavaDay. homepage.journal 2.96. As
a result, Cornelius Willis asked if I would write a similar article on
Microsoft. He agree to meet with me at Microsoft, demo the latest Web technology
with Visual Basic and talk about Microsoft's direction with Java.
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I did not bring a tape recorder to the meeting
so my comments are a paraphrase of what was said. The comments were written
up immediately after our meeting and accurately reflect the nature of the
discussion, although as Cornelius has pointed out, I am acting as raconteur
with dramatic license as to the tone of the article, in the tradition of
Gonzo Journalism. At the same time, the dramatic license is used to amplify
the truth of the situation. The open approach articulated by Cornelius
had been communicated to me in two days of meetings with virtually all
of Microsoft's senior management, so Cornelius simply amplified their comments
and told me what he wanted communicated to the world of developers.
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The article was sent to Cornelius as a courtesy
before publication for comment along with a followup email asking if it
accurately reflected our conversation. He did not respond so I assumed
it was a reasonable piece from his point of view, at least within the framework
of the previous Sun article. His recent email seems to confirm this.
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The development community is fully aware that
there is a fierce marketing battle being waged between Microsoft and the
Sun, Oracle, IBM, Netscape axis, as I tried to point out in the Sun and
Microsoft articles. As a heavy user of both Microsoft's excellent products
and tools from Sun, Oracle, IBM, and Netscape, I can only hope that the
users will ultimate see some benefit and that there is not a lot of civilian
roadkill on the Infobahn.
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At the same time, users can expect that JavaBeans
will become the OMG component model standard and that automated tools will
be readily available to allow JavaBeans to look like ActiveX/COM components
in Microsoft's environment. I plan to have the same components speak both
ActiveX and CORBA protocols in the future. I urge that reason prevail in
these matters. Most of us have systems to build and enterprise applications
to install that will always work with Microsoft's products, as well as
with the products of other leading vendors.
26 October 1997Frankfurt,
October 7-10, 1997.
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The winners
among the finalists of the Fourth Object Application Awards, sponsored
by the Object Management Group (OMG) and Computer Zeitung, were announced
at COMDEX Internet & Object World Frankfurt 97 on October 9.
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Some interesting applications were noted. For
example, the Daimler-Benz Group has created reusable components that allow
all calculation related objects and functions to be adapted or freely defined
without the need of programming. One single database can include several
calculation schemes and several separated data areas which the user can
choose and combine to work with.
25 October 1997New
Look for Object Technology Page!
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User feedback has helped generate a frames based
implementation that is faster to load.
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The three simple Java applets on the previous
version were able to crash all operating systems and all browsers worldwide.
Alas, the sad state of Java/browser technology.
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Let
me know if you like this format better!
19 October 1997Chronicles
of the Internet Wars
14 October 1997 Health
Care Technology Futures
13 October 1997 Will
"Squeak" Save Smalltalk?
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Maybe, but if it does, it will no longer be
Smalltalk!
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Squeak Birds
of a Feather Session Notes
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Alan Kay, the inventor of Smalltalk started
the OOPSLA'97 Conference today with a keynote address, "The Computer Revolution
Hasn't Happened Yet." Three key points were delivered in Alan's inimitable
style:
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HTML is an abomination that will self destruct
due to a fatal flaw. It does not transfer self-describing data.
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Java will not handle the demands of distributed
computing on the Internet because it has no meta-object model.
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Smalltalk died when it left Xerox Parc and became
a fixed environment unable to evolve into something new.
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A few angered developers ranted in the mens
room, saying it was unfair that noone was able to deliver a rebuttal.
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Meanwhile, "Squeak", a new free Smalltalk which
evolved out of Apple Smalltalk is now supported by Alan's team at Walt
Disney Imagineering. The virtual machine was written totally in Smalltalk
and autogenerates a C runtime virtual machine that increases performance
by a factor of 450, although it still runs slower than Visual Works for
most operations. The entire source code is available, allowing modification
of the virtual machine for special purposes.
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I had lunch with developers using Squeak for
small portable devices, 3D animation on a $1500 box that will smoke Silicon
Graphics big machines, and thought that this might be a better Java than
Java for portable Internet devices.
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And the most important part of Squeak is that
it is designed for language evolution so that Smalltalk can evolve beyond
itself into something new. It could leave Java behind struggling with its
C++ legacy. But will anyone follow? Check
it out for free.
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Ingalls D, Kaehler T, Maloney J, Wallace S,
Kay A. [1997] Back to the Future: The Story of Squeak, A Practical Smalltalk
Written in Itself. OOPSLA'97 12th Annual Conference Proceedings, ACM
Sigplan 32:10:318-325