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SUBJECT
  info/dev/IEEE_Study - Invitation to join IEEE study group

DESCRIPTION
  Recently the IEEE Portable Application Standards Committee approved the
  formation of a study group for the development of standards relating to
  Web Portable Applications (e.g. Java, Visual BASIC). Attached is the
  announcement of the first meeting of this group. Please direct queries
  to j.isaak@pasc.org.

BODY

Invitation to participate in an
IEEE Computer Society Standards Study Group on:
Web Portable Applications Environment(s)

July 17/18, 1996; Nashua NH

A new environment for applications portability is emerging, web
based applications portability.  These are areas within the scope of the
IEEE CS Portable Applications Standards Committee (PASC). The industry
is
developing significant implementation experience with these tools, and
this is viewed as an area for future application portability standards.
This is also an area of work identified by the ANSI IISP activities
(Requirements #7 & 8).  One requirement specifically calls for
interfaces
for application portability in an architecturally neutral form.

PASC has authorized a study group to meet July 17 & 18, 1996
(Wed/Thurs) in Nasuha, New Hampshire (Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza). The
purpose of the study group is to determine what standardization is
appropriate at this time, and how that work should be progressed.
Participation is open to any interested persons. Participants can
complete the pre-registration form (online at: www.pasc.org). Attendees
will be expected to pay a $200 meeting arrangement fee including lunch
for the two days, or they can pre-register for the full 4 days of PASC
meetings with lunches  for $300).  Attendees are asked to send a note to
Jim Isaak  (isaak@ljo.dec.com) so we have some idea of how many folks
are attending & what interests will be represented. Prior to the
meeting, an email reflector has been formed, you can get on this
distribution by sending email to "pasc-wpasg-request@pasc.org" with the
message "subscribe" in the body.

While this is a new area of work, and there are both "bugs" that
will be surfaced over the next year, and extensions and new facilities
that will emerge.  What is possible over the next year is to define and
document the stable core of the existing practice in this area, and set
the stage for extension and innovation.

Existing Practice in this area that should be drawn upon to direct
standards in this area include: JAVA, JavaScript, and VBScript (Visual
Basic Script).  Key players in this include Sun Microsystems, Netscape
and Microsoft.  It is possible that we might see projects in all three
of these areas based on the existing practice in each area.   We may
also see multiple projects appropriate for work on something like JAVA,
with the language specification, class library specification and byte-
code specifications representing three different, but important
interfaces.

Ground Rules:
  The objective will be to standardize existing practice, not to
attempt to integrate or force alternatives into a single solution.
Multiple alternative standards must be permitted or even encouraged.
  The scope of the work should be clearly focused so that changes
from existing practice reflect correcting bugs (security gaps,  or
such), that extensions and innovation be left for future standardization
(once it reaches the status of existing practice).
  IPR holders must be engaged, and supportive, this is not to
"standardize Java in spite of ..." it is to acknowledge that these
companies have developed a very useful contributions in the area of
portable applications, and that standards will establish increased
consumer confidence, improved industry acceptance and commitment,
and a foundation for profiles for Information Infrastructure
environments.

In those areas where the IPR holders take a pro-active role in
moving specifications into the standards process, we should be able to
enter the balloting process in 1997.

--
To submit, mail postings to java@relog.ch (please read the guidelines posted)