HTML Tops in Web Application Environment

Hypertext
Markup Language (HTML) is still top dog on the Internet application scene
with 83% penetration, according to research from Ziff-Davis.

Only Java, coming in a distant second with 39% penetration, seems anywhere
near HTML’s pervasiveness. (Penetration rates are based on U.S. workplace
sites conducting any internal Web development, including Web site or
homepage design.)

The arrival of DHTML, however, has changed Java’s role in building highly
interactive Web sites. Many of the flashy interface tricks where Java was
first
used are more easily done using DHTML. Even Microsoft, the leader in Web
development tools, has favored DHTML over Java — and over its own ActiveX —
for building interactive Web pages.

Despite its secondary role in the Web development market as a whole, Java has
found a niche in Web business application development and is the clear winner
in the proprietary environment rivalry. The overall Web development
landscape–both open and proprietary–presented in the preceding table,
shows Java’s
six-to-one lead over ActiveX in the building of mission-critical applications.

While there is a diversity of available technologies being used–including so-
called “open source” tools like Perl–vendor dominance is becoming a
familiar scene on the market share front. Microsoft leads the way with a
whopping 61%
market share in Web development tools used to create mission-critical
business applications. Companies like Sun, Oracle, and IBM all continue to
lag.