Java enthusiast and leader in database software, Oracle, plans to launch the Java EE (enterprise edition) 7 platform and project Avatar during the second quarter of 2013. The earlier version, Java EE 6, has had over 40 million downloads so far and has been the first choice for enterprise developers and the number one application development platform.

According to Oracle, the Java EE 7 platform will further enhance the Java EE platform for cloud environments. As a result, Java EE 7-based applications and products will be able to operate more easily on private or public clouds and deliver their functionality as a service with support for features such as multi-tenancy and elasticity (horizontal scaling).

“While traditionally Java EE has offered services within platforms like messaging service and things like that, in EE 7, the platform itself can be offered as service in cloud,” said Anil Gaur, VP, Software Technologies, Oracle, on the sidelines of the JavaOne event in Hyderabad held May 3-4, 2012. “Developers are looking for a PaaS standard for the next generation of cloud-based applications, and the Java EE platform will be the PaaS standard.”       

Oracle’s project Avatar aims to enable hybrid applications where HTML5-based user interfaces (UIs) share content between Java clients and Java EE servers, both in data centers and in the cloud. “It is basically addressing the need where customers or developers want to write their application once and use the same applications and same UI on different kind of devices like your mobile devices, desktops, and laptops. They don’t want to write applications multiple times,” Gaur said.

With 97 percent of enterprise desktops running on Java and 85 percent of the phones in the world Java enabled, Oracle is aggressive on tapping this market. Although the company declined to share specific numbers on the revenue generated by Java and related products, Gaur said that Java is an integral part of Oracle’s strategy. “If you look at the fusion middleware, applications or even in the database, they embed pieces of Java. So it is a core part of our strategy and it’s in our best interest to move Java forward. And, we also understand that we can only move forward with Java with participation from other major vendors like IBM, Apple, and many other such players.”