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From: knight@mrco.carleton.ca (Alan Knight)
Subject: Re: Java is not competition-Go VWave!
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Organization: The Object People
References: <4c108v$bqa$2@mhafm.production.compuserve.com> <4c1mk4$k3@sundog.tiac.net>
Date: Fri, 29 Dec 1995 23:10:46 GMT
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In <4c1mk4$k3@sundog.tiac.net> Joe Kinsella <jkinsella@procd.com> writes:

>What is VisualWave?  I've read and reread the ParcPlace-Digitalk
>press release and I still figure out >what it is!

It's not that complicated, I think you're just coming at it with the
wrong expectations.

>Please help me understand.  It sounds like they have repackaged
VisualWorks with two new features: the >ability to generate HTML from
the layout tool (which I can do from MS Word) and with CGI scripts for
>kicking off ST-80 apps (which I could write myself)?  Is that right?
If so, what does that have to do >with Java?


It gives you the ability to run Smalltalk applications remotely over
the web. Basically that means generating HTML from Smalltalk screens
and dealing with input, etc. This allows you to run "traditional" (if
that word can be applied here) Web applications, where the code is
executing on the server.

What it has to do with Java is that it supports various browser
features, one of which is Java. That is, if you detect that your
client is using a Java-capable browser, you can have Java applets as
part of your application.

That is, the "Java is not competition" does not translate to "We're so
much better than Java it's no contest" it translates to "Java is our
friend, we use it to complement our server-based stuff".

I think this answers the rest of your questions aobut licensing,
running on clients, etc. VisualWave is for running on servers, where
the page that the Java might be embedded into lives.

-- 
 Alan Knight                | The Object People
 knight@acm.org             | Smalltalk and OO Training and Consulting
 alan@objectpeople.on.ca    | 509-885 Meadowlands Dr.
 +1 613 225 8812            | Ottawa, Canada, K2C 3N2

