Putting together enterprise-level frameworks or applications for enabling commerce on the Internet involves design and integration of various technologies that play specific roles in a distributed computing environment. A distributed topology is a prerequisite for building such applications since the Internet is inherently distributed in nature. A distributed architecture, especially in the realm of electronic commerce, places higher demands on connectivity, security, reliability, robustness and scalability than do applications in other areas of computing.

Java and E-Commerce
So what role can Java play in the world of electronic commerce? Before answering that question, let's refresh our minds with the original goals of the Java Platform. The authors of Java used the following buzzwords to define the features offered by Java - simple, object-oriented, distributed, robust, secure, architecture-neutral, portable, interpreted, high performance, multithreaded, dynamic. To date Java has proved most of these descriptors accurate. Also, Sun Microsystems and other industry partners that influenced the evolution of the Java Platform are working hard to make sure that Java meets the expectations of the industry regarding features that are not yet satisfactory (e.g., performance).

Of the 11 buzzwords, the ones that have a direct bearing on the world of Internet commerce are:

Java also provides a rich set of APIs that facilitate building networked applications, particularly for the World Wide Web. This is why Java has become the enabling technology for building interoperable, distributed Web applications. Commerce, by definition, involves relationships between multiple participants, as opposed to transactions between individuals. As such, when business is conducted over the Web, it's to the advantage of all parties involved to overcome underlying differences in their respective computing platforms, to concentrate on buying and selling, not on whether they're using compatible operating systems. For this reason, Java is well-suited to being an enabling context for Web-based commerce, paving the way for business on the Internet. At the same time, for the end user, Java-based commerce-enabled Web pages can bring a greater degree of interactivity and responsiveness to a buyer's shopping experience.

Java Technologies for E-Commerce
The Java Platform offers several technologies that can be applied in the world of electronic commerce. Some are listed in Table 1. Figure 1 illustrates how each of these technologies fits into an n-tier e-commerce application. Note that the different technologies occupy specific roles in each tier of the architecture.

Other Technologies
The Java Platform offers many components that will contribute to the successful conduct of business on the Internet. However, it won't provide all the pieces necessary to make e-commerce a success. Other technologies are competing with the solutions offered by Java, trying to ensure their place in the world of e-commerce. At the same time, Java needs to integrate with supplementary technologies to provide viable solutions in the e-commerce market. Providing the technological answers solves only part of the problem. Integrating with existing and legacy technologies is imperative for providing feasible solutions for the market. Some existing technologies include payment and ordering systems, EDI, modules implemented in legacy programming languages and so on. Prominent among emerging technologies are new security paradigms, non-Java commerce frameworks and XML (Extended Markup Language). We'll discuss these technologies and considerations in future columns.