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.