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At 19:11 24/07/2006, Didier PH Martin wrote:
>Hello Peter,
>Didier replies:
>Peter, I noticed recently a new trend for people who invested in Java. At
>first it seems that several projects tried to develop some functionality in
>Java. For example CML got its java interpreter, translating the CML document
>into a three D view. But, and this is not entirely the fault of browser
>environments, Java is not always running smoothly in these environments
>mainly because the plug-in run-time is not running smoothly and several
>version were simply buggy. We blame the browsers but in fact we should also
>blame who made the plug-in.
The problem is that there was no standard, stable API for plugins so
it isn't surprising that people don't always get it right.
>Because of this matter of fact and because of the recent push lead by IBM of
>a java only run-time incarnated by Eclipse. It seems that several projects
>with vested interest in Java are moving toward the eclipse platform. In the
>last month I saw at least 3 major projects moving in that direction.
And our own Bioclipse...
>New trend:
>So, there is a new trend now where the Java world is moving to a new
>platform: Eclipse. The model is simply that you download the eclipse
>platform and then download pug-ins from the web when needed. Publishers
>define perspectives and the latter are used to know the requirement. See,
>again the requirement thing (what is actually missing in the browser
>platform to know intelligently what to do).
The main problem is complexity for those who know nothing about Eclipse.
><snip/>
>The impact: for the browsers, the emergence (since a couple of years) of
>portable libraries like Sarissa offering a single API on top of the
>different browser platforms (doesn't remind you of a certain patters
>re-emerging like a phoenix once in a while). Because W3C recommendations are
>a myth or a utopia, the reality is that browser implementations are still
>different (after 1more than 10 years of the web) and have different
>behaviour. What is needed is:
>a) get rid of the browsers and start from scratch all over. This is what
>people migrating to Eclipse are doing. However, they port their actual
>applets and hence, do not totally start from scratch.
>b) do some layers on top of the browser platform to adapt to the different
>browser platforms. This is what the AJAXIANs and your humble servant are
>doing.
>c) Embrace The new window generation and enjoy the efficiency of XAML.
>
Thanks - some of this is new to me and I'll see what I can find out for myself.
>P.
Peter Murray-Rust
Unilever Centre for Molecular Sciences Informatics
University of Cambridge,
Lensfield Road, Cambridge CB2 1EW, UK
+44-1223-763069
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