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New JCP Head Focuses on More Than Java


Patrick Curran chats about the future of Java, the JCP and professional software development

By Alex Handy
November 20, 2007 — 
Sun Microsystems may be embracing a new paradigm, if only rhetorically.

During a discussion at QCon in San Francisco earlier this month, the new chair of the Java Community Process pointed out the historic importance of standards. Patrick Curran has been in the position for only four months, but his past duties at Sun and his experiences as a history buff have been his preparation for the task of shepherding the organization behind Java into the future.

During Curran's discussion of the history of standardization, he cited medieval trade guilds as early examples of standards bodies. It was the third time in two months this reporter heard a Sun employee mention guilds while discussing the current state of software development. Previously, Sun chief open source officer Simon Phipps had compared open source development communities to guilds. Tiki Dare, Sun's director of trademarks, also mentioned guilds as the origin of trademarks.

“Are we artisans? Are we the guys who craft things together lovingly?” asked Curran during his talk. “Or are we engineers? Are we people who build things from prebuilt items, and assemble things from components? [As engineers,] you get more done, you get it done faster, but it's not as much fun. If we're engineers, we have to care about standards,” he said.

For Curran, however, the philosophical questions surrounding standardization will be taking a back seat to his responsibility of increasing JCP membership. Like the trade guilds of old, said Curran, the JCP can only function properly when its membership is composed of the craftsmen and -women who rely on its standards every day.

But he's butting up against a difficult misconception that's hurting membership: People don’t believe the process is truly open. “Some people think we do all this stuff in smoke-filled rooms. That's not the way it is. It's more like the conference where we are now: just regular folks. Those are the people that do the work that define the specs. The work gets done in the expert groups; the executive committees just vote. If we can break through this…perception and really embrace the open source community, the sky’s the limit. Ultimately, it's the people who put in the effort who call the shots,” said Curran.

Currently, the JCP claims just over 1,200 members. Some members have, in the past, expressed disdain for JSR specifications that came from outside the JCP, such as JSR 291, which sought to standardize OSGi in the Java ecosystem. Although Sun voted against approving this particular JSR, Curran said that he sees no problem with specifications coming from outside.

“No standard is unto itself. We build on the shoulders of giants. You'd be hard pressed to find any standard that started from scratch. We always build on other stuff. This JSR builds on this standard that came from outside the JCP. That happens all the time, and that's perfectly healthy. I think we need to embrace this, and recognize we can't be all things to all people. It's OK if standards are developed elsewhere,” Curran added.

That open-mindedness is likely a result of Curran's previous stints on the W3C and OASIS standards bodies. Indeed, his background seems to be his biggest asset in his new position: Prior to this, Curran headed up Sun’s development teams for Technology Compatibility Kits. He now hopes to turn his development experience toward the stalled redesign of the JCP Web site.

In a newsletter earlier this year, SD Times reported that the JCP site would be redesigned and reworked for ease of use and stronger community management. That redesign, however, never arrived. Curran said that the project was stalled due to the complex inner workings of the site, and promised that, eventually, the site will get a face-lift. The new JCP honcho, however, could not anticipate when this would be completed. For now, he's more concerned with recruiting new members.


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