Sun moves to improve Java Community Process

By Alun Williams

Posted on 23 May 2003 at 11:44

The Java Community Process (JCP) is the nearest thing that Java has to a standards body and Sun is looking to improve its workings. It wants a wider participation of developers to help shape future specifications for the platform-neutral, 'write once run anywhere' language.

Among the changes proposed by Java Specification Request (JSR) 215 is the creation of a new class of membership - 'Expert Group Observer'. The idea is for a wider audience to contribute feedback on specifications and to do so earlier in the processes.

The existing membership of the JCP reads like a roll-call of the IT industry - from IBM to Nokia, via HP, Oracle, Cisco and Sony.

'The direction in which JSR 215 proposes to take the JCP emerges from the feedback of specification leads, experts and EC members as well as the practical experience of the Program Office from its day-to-day management of the process,' said Onno Kluyt, director, JCP Program Management Office.

'It is an important initiative aimed at increasing the transparency and the efficiency of the JCP while maintaining the focus of the community on the establishment of the Java technology binary software standard.'

You can find more info on the Java Community Process at Web site and JSR 215 in particular here.

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