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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 — (Page 1 of 2)
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.

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