Google’s Java editions

April 18th, 2009 | 2 Comments »

Following the announcement of Google App Engine for Java, it’s interesting to see how Sun and Google differ in their analysis of market trends. Traditionally, Sun has three main “versions” of Java:

• Java Standard Edition (SE) for desktop applications
• Java Enterprise Edition (EE) for server side
• Java Mobile Edition (ME) for phones

With JavaFX, the new (and perhaps belatedly rediscovered) focus on client side market has three versions:

• Desktop profile
• Mobile profile
• TV profile

with a common profile that aims to write an application once, and have it run on all three types of displays – and the history will tell how well that will be supported and used in practice.

What about Google? This is how i see it:

• GWT is Java Web Edition (WE)
• Android is Java Device Edition (DE)
• App Engine is Java Cloud Edition (CE)

and no stated goal (at least yet) to provide a common edition for GWT and Android.

---

Related posts:

1. Java on the desktop I’ve said before that the customers don’t care about the technology. To a certain extent,...
2. Java on the Desktop, the past, the present and the future – interview with Richard Bair In this interview Richard Bair answers my questions on Swing, SwingX, JavaFX and Java on...
3. First look at Nimbus and “Java SE 6 Update N” A mildly unexpected announcement on Jasper’s blog (a little earlier than hinted previously) that leads...
4. Translucent and shaped windows in core Java I first spotted it about a month ago, and today’s build 12 of JDK 6.0u10...

---