Subject: SUN PROPOSES MODIFICATION TO JAVA PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE'S FLOATING POINT SPECIFICATION (Fwd)

From: Conrad Geiger - Sun Strategic Area HPC Technologist <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 24 Mar 1998 13:01:20 -0600 (CST)

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Sun Microsystems, Inc.
Andrew Shikiar
[email-masked]
408-343-1813

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SUN PROPOSES MODIFICATION TO JAVA PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE'S FLOATING POINT
SPECIFICATION

PALO ALTO, CA - March 23, 1998 - Sun Microsystems, Inc. has proposed to its
Java platform licensees a modification to the Java programming language and
Java virtual machine specifications.  The proposed modification would amend
the way the Java platform handles floating point calculations.  Sun developed
the proposed modification with input from several companies in the industry,
including IBM, Intel and others.

Once the Java platform licensees have reviewed and commented on the proposed
modification, Sun will incorporate their feedback and then open the proposed
modification to public review.  The public review is expected to begin May 1.

The Java programming language and Java virtual machine specifications
currently state that the results of floating point calculations must be
rounded to IEEE 754 single precision (32 bit) or double precision (64 bit)
values.  On some processors, such as Intel Architecture and the PowerPC,
performance would be improved if the specification allowed floating point
computations to be done at greater precision.  With input from the industry
(see addendum) Sun is proposing amendments to the programming language and
virtual machine specifications that would permit intermediate calculations to
be done using IEEE 754 extended formats.

"Sun has heard from several customers and partners in the open systems
industry concerning the Java platform's floating point specification.  Many
developers are looking to exploit the power of current and future chip
architectures," said Jon Kannegaard, vice president of software products at
Sun's JavaSoft division.  "We've defined this proposed modification to address
that issue.  We're always working to refine the Java platform so that it meets
the needs of the community."

The Public Review Process
Every proposed modification to the Java platform specifications goes through a
well-defined, open, process.  First, a subcommittee reviews the proposed
change or addition to the Java spec and creates a proposed draft.

After the subcommittee review is completed, Sun submits the proposed change to
its licensees for review.  Licensee comments and feedback are incorporated
into the proposal before the proposal is submitted for public review.  Once
the public review process is complete and feedback has been reviewed and
incorporated as appropriate, Sun makes the final specification available.

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SUN PROPOSES MODIFICATION TO JAVA PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE'S FLOATING POINT
SPECIFICATION Quote Addendum
March 23, 1998

IBM Corporation
"IBM supports the continued effort by Sun and the vendor community to improve
Java technology for high-performance arithmetic computations," said Patricia
Sueltz, general manager, Java software at IBM.  "We look forward to the
modifications that will help our customers gain greater value from Java
technology."

Meegan McFeely
IBM Corporation
[email-masked]
415-545-4676

Intel Corporation
"We want to ensure that applications in the Java programming language which
are developed for and deployed on the Intel Architecture can take advantage of
the speed and accuracy of the Intel platform," said Will Swope, vice
president, Business Platforms Group, Intel Corporation.  "The proposed
modification to the Java floating point specification responds to developer
and end user needs for greater accuracy in the specification and is consistent
with IEEE industry standards on floating point precision."

Jane Rauckhorst
Intel Corporation
[email-masked]
408-765-7026

Supercede, Inc.
"Our goal at SuperCede, Inc. is to help our customers achieve the highest
performance results attainable," said Tom Van Horn, president and CEO at
SuperCede, Inc.  "The proposed Java floating point modification will allow
developers to take full advantage of the power behind today's processors to
help our customers achieve those results."

Susanne Buti
SuperCede, Inc.
[email-masked]