J2SE and J2EE spin from Sun

[Ron Yust]

I'm confused.  After reading Sun's J2EE Application Programming Model and listening to EJB experts on these newsgroups, I was under the impression that Java on the client was NOT the preferred method to deliver client GUI.  But now on Sun's Java web page I find the following: Java technology running on the client, or desktop, has made dramatic improvements since the birth of the Java platform and is playing a key role in enterprises today, particularly in intranet and business-to-business applications. The biggest growth areas for Java technology on the client today are in business communications over intranets and the Internet. Major corporations are having great success developing and using client-based applets, which provide new services and functionality more quickly by avoiding the long development cycle of traditional programming languages. At the most basic level, the J2SE platform gives client-side users a wide range of features and capabilities that set it above alternative development languages: Graphically rich user interface (vs. HTML) Local data manipulation (vs. HTML) Cross-platform compatibility (vs. ActiveX and C++) Extreme security (vs. ActiveX) Maintainable code (vs. JavaScriptTM) Web deployed applications (vs. C++) From a broader perspective, the success and adoption of J2SE and continued innovation and improvements illustrate a more realistic picture of the state of the Java platform on the client: technologies such as the Java Plug-In, the Java HotSpotTM Client Virtual Machine, Java Foundation Classes, the Java Media Framework, and XML data integration are converging to enable enterprise customers to deliver mission-critical, client-side Java technology-based applets and applications, both on the Internet and in business-to-business e-commerce solutions. If I read this correctly, Sun says Java on the client provides advanced capabilities over HTML/JavaScript for (and I quote) "enterprise customers to deliver mission-critical, client-side Java technology-based applets and applications, both on the Internet and in business-to-business e-commerce solutions".  So, on one hand Sun says Java provides superior client capabilities for the enterprise, but on the other hand the preferred enterprise client technology is HTML/JavaScript/Servlets/JSP.  Does anyone else want to laugh? -Ron