Oracle empowers Cloud developers

Extending its support for the developer community, Oracle this week unveiled the next generation of Cloud services and development tools at JavaOne 2016, as well as a range of developer-focused initiatives. By giving developers a choice of programming languages, databases, compute types, operating systems and virtual machines, Integrated Development Environments (IDEs) and tools, Oracle provides developers with the choice and flexibility needed to quickly and easily build modern applications in the Cloud.

As Cloud deployment becomes the norm for enterprise workloads, developers need to build applications using microservices, APIs, containers, DevOps processes and platform capabilities that support analytics, integration, mobility and the Internet of Things (IoT). Oracle has enhanced its development tools and Cloud services, and introduced other new initiatives in order to give developers friction-free, instant and immersive access to the latest technologies in the Cloud.

At JavaOne 2016 in San Francisco, Oracle showcased major enhancements to the Java Platform and the introduction of MySQL, the world’s most popular Open Source database, to the Oracle Cloud Platform. In addition, Oracle shared details on new Oracle Cloud Platform services that are specifically designed to support developers, and launched a new Web portal, developer.oracle.com, that provides developers with a single place to find the tools, technologies and resources needed for any development project that uses Oracle technology.

Extended commitment to the Java Platform

To help developers meet the demands of new cloud-based models, Oracle continues to work closely with key partners in the Java ecosystem to drive significant evolution of the Java platform.

Java Platform, Standard Edition (SE) 9 will include new capabilities as well as updates that support the latest development standards and specifications. Project Jigsaw will help developers make applications more scalable, more secure, faster and easier to maintain, while JShell will make it easier for developers to run and test snippets of code. Oracle continues to work closely with the OpenJDK Community to lay the groundwork for Java SE 9. More than 500 companies, organisations and individuals now contribute to the OpenJDK project and well over seven million lines of code have been developed.

Java Enterprise Edition (EE) future versions will support delivering an enhanced model for reactive programming that helps developers build large-scale distributed systems, which are built asynchronously, are loosely coupled and are event based. In addition, future releases will include multitenancy in Cloud environments and improved security, including support for new authentication models such as OAuth and OpenID Connect. Support for multitenancy in Cloud environments will also be part of the proposal, and a new configuration model supporting Docker and other container technologies will be introduced.

New data management capabilities in the Cloud

Helping developers innovate and carry out digital transformation initiatives, Oracle launched Oracle MySQL Cloud Service. Built on the proven MySQL Enterprise Edition and powered by the Oracle Cloud, Oracle MySQL Cloud Service provides a simple, automated, integrated and enterprise-ready cloud service that enables organisations to securely and cost-effectively develop and deploy MySQL-based applications globally at scale.

The launch of Oracle MySQL Cloud Service brings the world’s most popular open source database to the Oracle Cloud Platform and extends the complete suite of cloud services that Oracle provides to help organisations rapidly build and deploy rich applications. Developers and Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) can rely on the most comprehensive MySQL offering in the cloud, with advanced features, tools and support to accelerate the time to market of their new modern applications.

In addition, Oracle is introducing Oracle NoSQL Database Cloud Service and Oracle Exadata Express Cloud Service. Oracle NoSQL Cloud Service provides a high performance, key-value database supporting JSON, Java, Node.js and Python developers for transactional and Big Data applications. Oracle Exadata Express Cloud Service provides low cost, fully managed access to Oracle Exadata.

New Cloud platform capabilities for developers

Extending its commitment to helping developers build and deploy rich applications in the Cloud, Oracle has extended Oracle Cloud Platform with new Oracle Cloud Platform Services and major new enhancements to Oracle Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS). New and enhanced Cloud services to support developers include:

Oracle Application Container Cloud Service: Now includes PHP native runtime support to help developers quickly deploy, run and scale PHP web applications in the Cloud.

Oracle API Platform Cloud Service: Enables developers to create, secure and manage APIs (for API first applications such as those built using microservices) with zero code and end-to-end transaction insight. The innovative new service will enable developers to run an API gateway either on-premises, within the Oracle Cloud, or on third-party cloud platforms.

Oracle Mobile Cloud Service: Now includes support for chatbots that deliver intelligent and contextual conversations across multiple messaging channels, enabling developers to enhance the user experience on mobile apps.

Oracle Container Cloud Service: Expands Oracle’s support for Docker containers by enabling developers to easily run, orchestrate and manage containers in the Cloud. Oracle now offers pre-built containerised images for its products to help developers adopt Oracle technologies inside containers for development, testing and production environments.

Oracle Solaris: As a member of the Open Container Initiative, Oracle highlighted how it will be bringing native Docker support within Oracle Solaris. Containers will leverage Solaris key features such as security, efficient virtualisation, ZFS cloning, smart file system and multi-platform compatibility for both SPARC and x86 systems.

New and extended developer community initiatives

Reinforcing its commitment to working with the developer community, Oracle is launching a number of developer-focused initiatives at JavaOne 2016. They include:

New Developer Roadshow: Beginning in January 2017, Oracle will launch Oracle Code, a developer roadshow that will include technical sessions, hands-on labs and interactive experiences. Events are planned in 20 cities including San Francisco, Sao Paulo, Bangalore and Prague. 

New Developer Portal: The new developer.oracle.com will direct users to free trials, downloads, documentation, tutorials, an extensive list of developer tools and resources, and an active community of users. 

Oracle Academy: Engages educators and more than three million students in 110 countries annually in computer science (CS) education and activities. By supporting the White House’s CS for All and Let Girls Learn initiatives, Oracle encourages a diverse range of students to become tomorrow’s technology innovators, developers and coders.

Oracle Cloud Marketplace: Provides quick and easy access to 450 OSS tools, frameworks and platforms that developers can use to build on Oracle Cloud Platform.

Oracle announces Platform Innovation Award winners

 This week at Oracle OpenWorld, Oracle honoured the winners of the 2016 Oracle Cloud Platform Innovation Awards. This prestigious group of recipients is using Oracle’s PaaS and IaaS services in new and innovative ways to transform their businesses, drive innovation and gain a competitive advantage.

Thirty-one customers were chosen from around the world, spanning small and medium businesses to the largest enterprise, across a wide range of industries. This year’s winners include: Ambev, Avaya, BAMF, Calix, Cima Global, Cisco Capital, City of Hope, ClubCorp, Cummins, Inc., DX Marketing, Dubai Airports, Elbooq, ENEL, HCPA, Helsana Gruppe, IDEA Cellular, IDEXX Laboratories, La Caixa, Manchester Airport Group, Nacional Monte de Piedad, National Pharmacies, The Procter and Gamble Company, Rakuten, Renault, Safexpress, State Bank of India, SuiteBox, Tippett Studio and YellowDog.

“These awards recognise customers that are using Oracle’s PaaS and IaaS together in unique and innovative ways to transform their businesses. Over the past couple of years, we’ve seen our customers make a wholesale move in using the Cloud for just simple dev/test scenarios to running serious, enterprise workloads in the Cloud,” said Amit Zavery, Senior Vice President of Cloud Platform and Integration products, Oracle. “We’d like to congratulate all customers on their well-deserved awards.”

Part of the Oracle Excellence Awards, the Cloud Platform Innovation Awards is an annual awards program recognising customers for their cutting-edge solutions using Oracle’s PaaS and IaaS services. Recipients of Oracle’s Platform Innovation Awards were selected based on the uniqueness of their business case, business benefits, level of impact relative to the size of the organisation, complexity and magnitude of implementation and the originality of architecture.

Oracle Cloud Platform and Infrastructure enables organisations to move their enterprise workloads to the Cloud while providing their customers with a portfolio of highly innovative and accessible cloud-based services to capitalise on key transformative technologies such as big data analytics, machine learning and IoT.