When Oracle bought Sun Microsystems in 2010, it gained control of one of Sun’s mammoth contributions to computing – the Java platform. With the release of Java SE 7, Oracle has produced the first key update to the ubiquitous open-source platform in several years. In fact, it’s been five long years since Java had a major update. SE 7 packs some goodies that are sure to please many developers– support for Javascript, Python, and Ruby, simplified common tasks, and an application programminginterface that is ready for multicore processors.
Based on Oracle’s numbers, Java runs on the vast majority of enterprise desktops (over 97%!) and over three billion computing/communication devices run on Java technology.
In addition to formally releasing SE 7, Oracle also announced that it is planning to work on the next version of the platform, Java SE 8. This is all in keeping with Oracle’s long-term plans. According to Oracle Fusion Middleware and Java Products senior vice president, Hasan Rizvi, “Oracle has a strong vested interest in the success of the Java platform and is firmly committed to delivering a consistent, high-performance, high-quality Java SE implementation and will be supporting the Java SE 7 release across the Oracle FusionMiddleware product portfolio.” In fact, Oracle is increasing the amount of resources it is investing in the platform. Based on an Oracleblog entry, Oracle’s senior VP of app server development, Steve Harris, said the company’s goals regarding Java are to keep Java’s features and offerings “vibrant” as well as “free and open,” and to boost support for the platform’s developer community.