While the World-Wide Web is certainly a great place to install your
digital storefront, is it really ready to handle your back-office
operations and financial transactions?
SunSoft would have us believe so. The company last month introduced a
set of technologies around the NEO for brand name that it claims will
allow system builders to create mission-critical applications using
the Web as a delivery mechanism to customers. While we agree that the
potential is certainly exciting and the emergence of Web-based
client/server applications holds as revolutionary a promise as the
combination of microprocessors and PC operating systems, we would like
to raise a few red flags before you throw all your resources into Web
application development.
Central to NEO is Sun's Java computing language. Sun President Scott
McNealy has done a masterful job of positioning Java as the next big
step, as the Web moves from widely accessible but static, flat
document views to interactive, multidimensional applications. That
positioning concedes to Microsoft a victory in the desktop war -- but
a war made meaningless by the advent of Web-based computing. To best
understand Java, we asked PC Week's Advanced Technology Analyst Peter
Coffee to describe Java in a few paragraphs. Here's Peter's
explanation:
"With the Java approach, systems can download executable code in a
portable form, executing it locally but under the control of an
interpreter that can enforce appropriate restrictions. This isn't a
completely new idea: IBM's REXX has long been used in a similar way.
But Java, with a modern model of graphical interaction deeply
ingrained in its design, has an appeal that IBM's tried-and-true REXX
may not be able to match.
"Sun's Java technology does for computing what the invention of the
scientific journal did for human knowledge. It provides a reliable
mechanism for individual nodes of creativity to share what they've
created in a safe and reliable way, reducing duplication of effort and
spurring more rapid and innovative work."
But before you rush about your development lab in a sweatshirt
emblazoned with the cool Java logo, hold on. One potential problem
with Java is that it will be easy to bring unknown executable content
into a client machine. For example, say a company's security setup is
good, but the user is new to computers and/or too trusting, so he or
she may give any Java applet access to anything it asks for. The user
could give the applet access to the local file system, or the applet
could get, say, password information. Network administrators should be
given a "You should be paranoid about Java" tutorial.
For Java browsers installed at large sites, the administrator should
have an option that allows Hot Java (the Java browser) to work only
for a list of specific users and hosts. At the end of browser
installation, the default security setup should be fairly rigid and
difficult for users to change. Additional issues are certainly
present: The Java language documentation is incomplete, few commercial
applications exist, and the security issues will have to be
exhaustively tested.
Our suggestion on Java? Take a sip -- but don't drink it all down in
one gulp.
Eric Lundquist can be reached on the Internet at
elundquist@pcweek.ziff.com or MCI 528-0656.
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