Call it a virtual talent show.
The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has updated its open-source Java-based Web server, called Jigsaw, to showcase advanced technologies that the group has developed.
While Jigsaw 2.0 is a fully functioning Web server, its main purpose is to demonstrate such high-powered server technologies as HTTP 1.1, servlets and distributed publishing, all of which the W3C is attempting to evangelize.
The W3C, which sets standards for the Web, wants to lure vendors such as Netscape, Sun and Microsoft into adopting the technologies by showing how stable and useful they are.
"We wanted to make it easy for people to see the benefits of new protocols and to be able to test new technologies," says Yves Lafon, activity leader on the Jigsaw project.
Lafon and his team have been working on Jigsaw, which was named for its object-oriented approach, since 1997. But it hasn't been until this release that the Jigsaw team felt they had a completely stable proving ground. Unlike its fellow open-source project, Apache, Jigsaw is written entirely in Java. Lafon says this helps with quick installation on operating systems such as Windows 95, NT, OS/2 and Solaris.
And the more users who test-drive the Web server, which is available free on the W3C Web site, the more pressure vendors will feel to fully support the features.
Among the hottest features are Java servlets, applications that run off a server and are viewed at the desktop. Because servlets keep the user connected to the server, site administrators can poll visitors, give them dynamic access to databases and let them collaborate on documents.
Jigsaw 2.0 also promotes HTTP 1.1, a standard that is presently before the Internet Engineering Task Force. Currently, browsers get hung up waiting for replies to server requests. HTTP 1.1 allows for several simultaneous server requests.
HTTP 1.1 can also support distributed Web publishing applications by letting users edit files through their browsers without overwriting each other.
Some vendors, such as Netscape, already support parts of HTTP 1.1 in their Web servers, but don't believe it is stable enough to support completely.
Chris Turner, who runs a heavily trafficked Web site for translating documents, says he has been playing with Jigsaw 2.0 on a Linux server on part of his site. Turner says he's so impressed with Jigsaw's options, he plans to roll the software out to the rest of the site. o
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