Background

On December 8, 1998, Sun Microsystems, Inc., introduced the Java Community Process^SM Program for the development and revision of Java technology specifications. This formal process was designed to be fast, flexible, and adaptable to a wide variety of working styles present in the community today. A draft version of the process was circulated to licensees and others for their review and comment on October 8, 1998. Their feedback was gathered by PriceWaterhouseCoopers and played an important role in shaping the form and content of the process.

Java Community Process^SM Program Goals

• Enable the broader Java Community to participate in the proposal, selection, and development of Java APIs by establishing a means for both licensees and non-licensees to participate.

• Enable members of the Java Community to propose and carry-out new API development efforts without the need for Sun engineers to be actively involved.

• Ensure that the process is faithfully followed by all participants each time it is used by enabling auditing at key milestones.

• Ensure that each specification is backed by both a reference implementation and the associated suite of conformance tests.

• Help foster a good liaison between the Java Community and other bodies such as consortia, standards bodies, academic research groups, and non-profit organizations.

The design of these procedures allows for wider participation in the early stages of specification development and provides an extra level of assurance to the international Java Community that all steps of the process have been properly carried out by all parties involved and that a given specification can be implemented and tested for conformance.

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