Sun outlines future Java standards

Sun Microsystems releases developer kit for Java SE 6, considers changes to Java SE 7.

Martin LaMonica Former Staff writer, CNET News

Martin LaMonica is a senior writer covering green tech and cutting-edge technologies. He joined CNET in 2002 to cover enterprise IT and Web development and was previously executive editor of IT publication InfoWorld.

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Martin LaMonica

June 28, 2005 10:35 a.m. PT

Sun Microsystems has outlined planned enhancements to future editions of Java for building desktop and server applications.

The company on Monday released a developer kit for Java Platform Standard Edition 6 (Java SE 6), which is due for completion in the middle of next year and code-named Mustang. Java SE 6, software for building desktop applications, will include a scripting "engine," rewritten XML software, and closer integration with Microsoft's .Net applications. Sun is considering changes to Java SE 7, code-named Dolphin, to improve administration by enhancing support for the Java Management Extensions and adding XML as a data type in the Java language. For server-side development, Sun and other Java companies have sought to ease development of the Java Enterprise Edition 5 programs. New programming interfaces are designed to speed Java development for Web applications and database access. Separately, Sun on Monday released the Java Web Services Developer Pack 1.6, which adds support for FastInfoset.