Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, November 5, 1995                   TAG: 9511030021
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: F-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: LOUIS TRAGER SAN FRANCISCO EXAMINER
DATELINE: SAN FRANCISCO                                LENGTH: Medium

JAVA MIXES HYPE, HYPOTENUSE

That's a testament to the romance and excitement of its potential, but also to the fact that for the first time in history, information-processing, only months ago derided as number-crunching by nerds, is now a cool, mass-participation sport.

Thus: Java has a cute little graphic mascot, Duke, that starts squabbles about whether it's a tooth or a penguin.

Java's lead architect, James Gosling, is a bit taken aback by his newfound celebrity. He was recently depicted in a caricature in the world's most prestigious news weekly, The Economist, as a spider snaring America's biggest fat cat, Microsoft's Bill Gates, in the World Wide Web.

``I have this personal belief in research and exploration, that going out in random directions is good idea, because you never know,'' says Gosling, 40, whose title is Sun fellow. ``The weirder the direction, sometimes the better, because you're likely to learn something.''

Java has a hip name, not a dreadful clumsy acronym like predecessors COBOL or FORTRAN or something as cryptic as C or C++. Developing the new language involved ``too many people in a confined space and too much coffee, and the name `Java' was a natural considering that,'' Gosling says. ``I really wanted something different, something that has this connotation of being living.''

Java held a software development contest offering prizes like a powerful SparcStation Voyager and a professional espresso machine. Winners among the 65 entrants were announced last month.

First prize went to a University of British Columbia math student who created an applet (small program) demonstrating graphically the Pythagorean theorem (you know - the hypotenuse squared equals the sum of the squares of the other two sides of a right triangle).

Java even has a Java Man now making a cross-country pilgrimage via BMW motorcycle to present plaques at 30 landmark sites in Internet history - and documenting it with live camera links daily to a Web site.

Or at least Sun would like us to think of him as Java Man. Cyber-cyclist Greg Elin, due in the Bay Area Nov. 7 and 8 to present plaques at Wired Magazine, Netscape Communications Inc. and the selfsame Sun, prefers to go by his given name.

And Sun's partners - co-sponsors America Online and Sweet'N Low (sweetener, java - get it?) and organizer Total NY, a Web magazine - don't want to get shoved out of their moment in sun.