SAP JVM - "We Are All the Future of Java"

[ChrisPaine]

Hello,

I would imagine that I'm being very naive and completely misunderstanding the situation, but please let me know if that's the case, it usually is when I venture from the safety of things I understand.

In his latest blog [We Are All the Future of Java|http://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/scn/weblogs?blog=/pub/wlg/21102] [original link is broken] [original link is broken] [original link is broken]; Vishal Sikka speaks about his worries for the Java platform with Oracle taking control.

I haven't heard or seen any reaction on SCN to the recent lawsuit that Oracle took out against Google on it's custom JVM implementation for the Android OS.

My question/comment is thus: Is this behaviour anything that we should be worried about with SAP - it runs a custom JVM - will Oracle launch a lawsuit that tries to prevent this from being used - or is it just a money grab at Android, and SAP's JVM already pays licensing fees to Oracle so they are happy to continue to let it be sold? I don't understand the distinction between Google's JVM and SAP's - to me they are both custom JVM implementations (but I am probably simplifying the situation to the n'th degree.)

Could someone please enlighten me?

Thanks,

Chris

[esjewett]

Chris,

As far as I know, Google does not pay any license fees for the VM that runs Android Java code. They actually do not call it a JVM at all, but instead call it the Dalvik VM, which runs a bytecode format that just happens (surprise!) to be binary compatible with JVM byte-code. The idea, I believe, is that it is a clean-room re-implementation of the Java byte-code standard.

My reading of Vishal's recent blogs has been that they have been aimed in a different direction and are not so influenced by the Oracle/Google spat. I think Vishal's blogs are an attempt to influence Oracle's future management of the Java platform and ecosystem, as well as a warning to Oracle about attempting to exercise undue influence on the JCP. I understand the concern, but I also find it a bit ... how to say this ... rich, given the closed and company-oriented way (but with plenty of "wink wink, nudge nudge" exception management) that SAP has historically managed the ABAP ecosystem.

Sun had a huge amount of good will built up, despite some bad experiences, in the Java ecosystem. This may or may not have been useful from a business perspective. Oracle is much more culturally closed and doesn't have that historical good will to lean on, so this makes Java users a bit nervous and uncertain, especially those that are in direct competition with Oracle. I think it is this uncertainty that we are seeing in Vishal's blogs, as well as an attempt to influence this uncertain future in a good direction for SAP.

Ethan