Codenamed Brazil, and already well documented on the company's Web site, the framework is similar in intention to Microsoft's dot-Net strategy. It allows users to access software through the Web, and simplifies the developer's task of creating and combining Web-enabled applications. Software announcements are expected in February.
Brazil has been in development for over two years, but it was originally intended to provide URL-based interfaces to smartcards. It has since grown into a more flexible architecture which can incorporate a variety of applications and devices, including legacy applications.
When Sun eventually launches its Brazil framework, it will be the latest in a growing number of firms to offer applications via the Web. Microsoft launched its dot-Net initiative in the summer of last year. Hewlett-Packard has been pushing eSpeak and recently agreed to cooperate with the Universal Description, Discovery and Integration (UDDI) proposal, which is led by Ariba, IBM and Microsoft and is designed to help firms find and use Internet-based resources.
However, unlike Microsoft's dot-Net project, which is language-independent, Sun's Brazil framework currently only works with Java.
Executives at Sun's iPlanet division confirmed that Sun's Brazil project, along with its iPlanet platform, are part of a plan for creating reusable Internet services which Sun will roll out over the next few months.
