OS/2 e-Zine! - Java for Warp 4.0

Java for Warp 4.0

- by Chris Wenham

Let's start this article assuming that you've already heard about Java and know a little bit about what it is. Because the chances are, if you have the browser and the Internet connection that make reading this article possible then you must have heard about it somewhere. Java is a platform independent programming language that, while originally developed with Interactive TV in mind, has been repositioned as the language that will make the Web interactive instead.

But not just the Web, since it's platform independent it offers the unique ability for software developers to write only one version of their products and know they will reach the widest audience possible. Warp 4.0 is the world's first Java integrated operating system. What this means is that you can run Java programs natively under OS/2 without the need to start a web browser like Netscape first. With more operating systems following suit (the JavaOS in Sun's "Network Computer" being the second, Mac and BeOS following afterwards) and vendors announcing Java support left and right, Warp could find itself with a tidal wave of new and exciting applications to run.

Installing and Using Java

Warp 4 will install the code necessary to run Java applications by default. You can also optionally install a Java development kit, plus a collection of sample Java applets. If you don't plan to develop Java applets and you're not interested in running the largely useless samples, you can leave these out and save yourself some hard disk space. Otherwise you can begin to get an idea of how Java works under Warp 4 and what kind of performance you can expect.

To use a Java applet under OS/2 simply double-click on its icon and it will start just like any other program. What OS/2 is doing is actually reading the URL that points to the Java applet that's stored in that file, then launching the Java applet within a viewer that does all the compiling of the code.

Performance

Performance is not stellar, unfortunately. Java is an interpreted language like Rexx, meaning that Warp must interpret (convert to machine language) each line of code as it gets to it during the program's execution. A compiled application (like an .exe program) has been converted to this machine language already, and thus runs much faster.

To help improve Java performance, some companies like IBM, Netscape and Microsoft have developed Just-In-Time (JIT) compilers which, as their name implies, compile the Java applet quickly just before it is actually run. But even though IBM has made such a JIT compiler for OS/2 we've been told that it wasn't included with Warp 4, which would account for its lousy performance. Why it wasn't included we don't know, although it seems the likely explanation is that it wasn't ready in time. IBM is committed to improving Warp 4 with add-on kits in the future though, and it is rumoured one of these will be the JIT compiler.

Another performance problem we noted was an annoying flickering in some of the animation samples.

Browser Integration

With the release of Netscape Navigator for OS/2, we now have a serious browser in which to view Java enhanced web pages. There was/is a Java enabled WebExplorer available for download if you signed up as a developer with IBM, but it's a rare beast to find. Navigator for OS/2 will use the Java compiler built into Warp 4 rather than its own (unlike the Windows versions). While this means that Navigator inherits the poor performance of Warp's current Java compiler it also means that as IBM improves the compiler the performance in Navigator will improve too. It also has the benefit of keeping the code all together, eliminating redundancies and making applets easier to debug.

Users of Beta 1a of Netscape Navigator have reported problems with Java enhanced pages; most commonly the browser will crash. Users should note that even though there has only been a "1a" version of Navigator Beta, it seems like IBM and Netscape cleaned up the code a little and quietly replaced it shortly after the release of Warp 4. Maybe it's a fluke, but we found that when we first downloaded and tried Beta 1a over a month ago it would always crash when trying to load a Java applet, but a few weeks later and after downloading the supposed same version, Java worked cleanly. (Note: We are aware of the "leaked" version of Navigator that appeared on some FTP sites before the official rollout.)

Usefulness

Right now Java doesn't seem to be very useful to the average person. The samples (GIF, 7k) included with Warp 4 are nifty and show the potential of what Java can do, but they don't offer any practical use. On the Web it's a little better, with some sites now offering interactive chat, search engines and other useful services through Java applets. Corel is making a bold move by porting their Office suite to Java and they have a demo available on the Web. We had trouble getting this to work with Navigator for OS/2, but others have reported success. Java over the Web works best if you have a fast Internet connection, although it compensates by only downloading class libraries as they are needed.

There's also the question of stability and maturity. For all of Java's features and benefits the one thing it doesn't have is a time-tested and stable base like Warp has. This would be a concern to a network administrator who has visions of exploding clients in his nightmares. Sun, Netscape and others are rapidly working to find the holes in Java's security and patch it as fast as they can.

Just as with OpenDoc, Warp 4.0's Java integration is a bet on the future. We may actually see a marriage of the two technologies with JavaBeans, a proposed specification that would give Java the object-distribution and compound-document features seen in OpenDoc.

As always, Microsoft has a competing technology; ActiveX. As with OLE, ActiveX is a proprietary, platform dependant technology based on DCOM (Microsoft's answer to IBM's DSOM which is found in the Workplace Shell). ActiveX is also a Visual Basic language, whereas Java was based on the more flexible and popular C++ language.

What Does It All Mean?

If you managed to wade through the technical jargon above here's what we think the bottom line is: Java, currently a fad, will probably mature into a background technology that most of us (except for programmers) won't even think about. Warp 4.0's Java integration is a good start and a sign of IBM's commitment to keeping OS/2 on the cutting edge of technology, but will need some performance improvements before it can be taken seriously as a means to run productive applications on.

Chris Wenham is a Team OS/2er in Binghamton, NY with a catchy-titled company -- Wenham's Web Works. He has written comedy, sci-fi, HTML, Pascal, C++ and now writes software reviews.

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