NEW YORK -- Sun Microsystems Inc. plans to introduce an improved version of the Java programming language that lets developers write faster applications and give them more freedom to adapt it to their individual needs.
The move by Sun will loosen its grip on the Java language in a bid to correct deficiencies that have hurt its promise as a universal language for writing software.Sun has long touted Java as a versatile language that software developers can use to write applications for any computer, not just the Windows system found on most PCs. Sun is a major maker of non-Windows computers.
Java programs can be frustratingly slow, however, and some versions may work better on one operating system than another. The new Java, which will be able to work with applications written in older versions of Java, will attempt to address this, Alan Baratz, head of Sun's Java unit, said in a phone interview Monday.
Starting next month, Sun will share Java's electronic source code over the Internet, enabling developers to blend in improvements that adapt Java to their own needs. Previously, the roughly 200 developers who bought licenses to Java needed to ask Sun's permission before making changes.
In addition, developers need only buy a license when they are ready to ship applications written in the language.
"Many of the current licensees have very good ideas about how to improve the technology for use in new kinds of environments," Baratz said. "But they couldn't make modifications to the source code; they had to come back to Sun and have Sun make it if we thought it appropriate."
Now, Baratz said, "We don't make money until you make money."
Java gained fresh importance this year when it became a key focus of the government's antitrust case against Microsoft Corp. According to the government, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates set out to kill Java because it threatens his Windows-only vision of computing.