Enterprising Ingredients:
How Java Holds e-business Together

By Jason Woodard
Java Marketing Team, IBM

If you've seen our ads lately, you know what e-business is. You may wonder what Java has to do with it. The answer is simple: Java is the glue that holds e-business together.

e-business is about solving traditional business problems with Internet technology. IBM's Network Computing Framework is a blueprint for success -- an architecture based on open standards and "pluggable" software components. Java is the programming model that makes the NCF work. The NCF is an ordinary three-tiered environment with a twist. It's Web-enabled clients linked to application servers linked to back-end database and transaction systems, all accessible to developers in a consistent end-to-end way, using Java.

e-business is rooted in a fundamental business reality: diverse business problems require diverse solutions that no single platform -- or vendor -- can deliver. Because it's supported on every major computing platform (including all of IBM's), Java allows you to build on what you have, whether it's a single-server electronic storefront, a global network of data centers, or anything in between. Java lets you interact with your customers and suppliers without worrying what operating systems they're running. IBM's e-business software offerings support Java and give our customers real choices. Java lets you choose an IBM product because it best fits your needs, not because you're locked into our roadmap.

e-business solutions enable customers to dramatically expand their product market, foster customer loyalty, speed time to market, and grow their top and bottom line. The extraordinary momentum behind Java is due largely to the fact that Java is ideally suited for solving these business problems.

The Java language increases developer productivity through its simple but powerful object model, extensive network support, built-in support for threads and exceptions, automatic memory management, and strong typing. Java eliminates the major sources of programming bugs: memory leaks, dangling references, pointer errors and array errors.

The Java platform reduces costs of application deployment by enabling developers to "write once, run anywhere." Because Java programs can run on any platform that fully supports the Java Virtual Machine, porting costs are reduced or eliminated. Since Java programs can be installed transparently, managed centrally and updated automatically over the Web, administration becomes simple and efficient.

JavaBeans components standardize the aspects of Java classes necessary to support visual builder environments: self-description, event linking, and externalization. Java developers can use beans to interface with database and transactional systems like DB2, CICS and IMS (as well as similar products from vendors like Oracle, SAP, Baan and PeopleSoft) without having to learn a complex set of APIs. This capability allows businesses of any size to bring together customers, business processes and data -- to provide better service, grow existing markets, and reach new ones.

IBM's approach to e-business is to start simple and grow fast, so it's not surprising that we don't see Java as an all-or-nothing proposition. IBM, Lotus and our partners are helping our customers develop e-business solutions that use Java where it adds the most value now; as the Java platform matures, as it's doing faster than any other platform in history, Java will play an increasingly important role in these solutions.

Finally, e-business is about building on a foundation you can trust. Java was designed from the ground up for security; you can trust your Java applications to be safe and virus-free, and so can your customers. Moreover, you can trust IBM's Java expertise. IBM has been a Java technology leader for more than two years. We are committed to realizing the benefits of e-business for our customers, and we are committed to Java as a technology essential to this objective.



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