The software development world is divided into two dominant camps--.Net and Java. Many developers are multilingual in programming languages but tend to prefer one platform over another for financial, aesthetic, practical or other reasons. Lately, we have seen some progress in getting the two platforms to interoperate as Microsoft formed partnerships with Sun, SAP, and Oracle. Software developer Mainsoft is taking a different approach toward .Net and Java unification with a single development environment that allows Microsoft .Net programmers to create fully compliant, Java 1.4 specification bytecode without learning the Java programming language.
Mainsoft's Visual MainWin for the J2EE platform integrates with (and requires) Microsoft Visual Studio.Net, and allows developers using Visual Basic .Net or C#, as well as ASP.Net and ADO.Net class libraries, to create, deploy, and debug applications on J2EE application servers, including IBM WebSphere 5.1, BEA WebLogic 8.1 and Tomcat 5.0. Java classes and components, such as Enterprise JavaBeans (EJBs) can be imported into Visual Studio and used in applications written in Visual Basic .Net or C#.
MainWin compiles Microsoft Intermediate Language (MSIL) into Java bytecode. According to Mainsoft CEO Yaacov Cohen, Microsoft's intermediate code is very similar to Java bytecode, and the company will be able to maintain compatibility as Java bytecode changes. Cohen claimed that MainWin can significantly increase programmer productivity and reduce total cost of ownership.
"Enterprises are getting very large software stacks from two different vendors with overlapped functionality," said Cohen. "We used to have a common language--C and C++--across platforms, but now we don't. The complexity level has been increasing sharply in the past couple of years. With Web services, the two stacks can interoperate, which is a good step forward. But why would you want both the .Net and J2EE stacks, which have different programming languages, development tools, virtual machines and application servers? In addition, 50 percent of develop time is spent debugging code, which multiplies if you have hybrid code on two platforms."
Cohen said that MainWin also addresses the shortage of Java programmers for enterprise application development. According to Gartner's research, most large enterprises will utilize both Microsoft and Java technologies in the next five years. Smaller companies will typically standardize on either Java or .Net, with .Net having the edge given the penetration of Windows client systems. With MainWin, Windows-oriented developers familiar with the .Net development environment will be able to take on more complex IT projects involving Java.
Currently, MainWin is focused on Web Services and Web applications--it lacks the Smart Client Application Model support, for example.
Cohen said that other Visual Studio .Net languages, such as J# and Visual C and Visual C++, could be added in the future. He also said that Mainsoft is considering a compiler that goes from Java bytecode to Microsoft Intermediate Language. "We are looking into it. All the standards are there, and both [platforms] are well documented, but it requires significant investment."
At $5,000 per developer seat and a yearly 20 percent maintenance fee, Visual MainWin for J2EE can be a lot cheaper than hiring expensive and often scarce Java developers. Since the product shipped earlier this year, Mainsoft has sold less than 100 seats. That number certainly doesn't reflect a huge demand at this point. But, the company recently inked partnerships with Siebel Systems and Computer Associates, and is looking to sign more partners. Siebel plans to promote MainWin for .Net developers who want to customize the company's CRM solutions for deployment on .Net and J2EE platforms. Similarly, .Net developers will be able to deploy applications with CA's Advantage Ingres r3 on Linux.
If Visual MainWin for J2EE works as advertised, and if early adopters find the product more than a little useful, the Microsoft developer community will quickly pay attention. This summer, Mainsoft plans to publish performance benchmarks of hybrid applications built with MainWin to further make its case that using the product doesn't carry a speed penalty.
The Java purists may disparage Mainsoft's product as a lowest common denominator approach for Java programming, and the .Net bigots may consider it an anathema to introduce Java into the .Net environment. For the millions of Visual Basic and C# programmers who just want to get work done, Mainsoft's product could make their coding life easier and more productive.
You can write to me at dan.farber@cnet.com. If you're looking for my commentaries on other IT topics, check the archives.
Back when Java first became the buzzword of the day, I decided to learn it. The teacher asked the class what the most widely used programming language was, and most people were surprised to learn tha... (Read the rest)
Posted by: wresnick Posted on: 06/04/04
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