Cerent’s groundbreaking optical transport product, introduced in 1998, resulted in the confluence of a number of technological advances. Compressed silicon in the form of Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs) was one factor. It allowed for equipment modules of reduced size that ran much cooler than previous designs, which, in turn, allowed more functions to be combined within each board. Secondly, computers in the form of microprocessors were included on each module to allow it to be exercised by innovative software. Associated with these technological breakthroughs was the rise of Java and JavaScript, where, as George Gilder wrote, “The computer becomes a peripheral to the Internet and the web.”
Indeed, in the area of network management, where disparate Cerent 454 network elements (computers) were located, Java elements formed the basis of a better way of managing local, regional, or national optical transport networks. Cerent’s software team adopted a competitor of Java, known as JavaScript, which formed the heart of its early management system.
The beauty of Java, which first came out from Sun in 1995, followed by JavaScript from Netscape, is that a Java program can reside anywhere an Internet connection exists, and by extension, its program can be executed by any Cerent 454 network element or computer attached to the Internet assigned to manage the family of ‘454s.’
Indeed, in the area of network management, where disparate Cerent 454 network elements (computers) were located, Java elements formed the basis of a better way of managing local, regional, or national optical transport networks. Cerent’s software team adopted a competitor of Java, known as JavaScript, which formed the heart of its early management system.
The beauty of Java, which first came out from Sun in 1995, followed by JavaScript from Netscape, is that a Java program can reside anywhere an Internet connection exists, and by extension, its program can be executed by any Cerent 454 network element or computer attached to the Internet assigned to manage the family of ‘454s.’
The timing of Cerent’s software engineers to employee JavaScript was perfect. While they – Chris Eich, Wayne Cannon, and David Smith [1] – began coding the web browser interface for the Cerent 454 in late 1997, the first of any telecom manufacturing company to do so, Java and JavaScript were hitting their stride. By 1998, for example, just as the first shipments of the Cerent 454 began, Java commanded 89.5 percent of the market for web page development tools at small companies like Cerent (those with less than a hundred employees).
Of course, Cerent used the more nimble and dynamic JavaScript, which was implemented as part of its browser-based management system so that Cerent 454 scripts could interact with operators, who could control the browser, and decide what information to display and what actions to carry out [3].
Of course, Cerent used the more nimble and dynamic JavaScript, which was implemented as part of its browser-based management system so that Cerent 454 scripts could interact with operators, who could control the browser, and decide what information to display and what actions to carry out [3].
Why was JavaScript chosen? For one reason, the code could run locally on a browser of the customer’s choice instead of running on some remote server. This meant that the browser responded much more quickly to an operator’s actions [2]. Such responsiveness was unheard of in the late 1990s.
Kudos to Cerent’s pioneering software developers for trying something new to make systems-level management better. Isn’t that what innovation is all about?
[1] As of December 1998, David Smith presented his team’s plans for the Cerent Transport Controller to management. He listed himself, Chris, and Wayne, as well as Mauro Cadorin and Marwan Nael on the network management team. Mauro and Marwan were hired as temporary contractors who contributed from March thru December 1998 and August thru October 1998, respectively.
[2] Today, the user-interface logic for Gmail, for example, is written in JavaScript.
[3] A JavaScript code snippet follows:
*** HTML CODE ***
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<style>
#map {
width: 500px;
height: 500px;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1>A Google Map</h1>
<p>Center of downtown in Indianapolis, IN </p>
<div id="map"></div>
<script src="js/google-map.js"></script>
</body>
</html>
Kudos to Cerent’s pioneering software developers for trying something new to make systems-level management better. Isn’t that what innovation is all about?
[1] As of December 1998, David Smith presented his team’s plans for the Cerent Transport Controller to management. He listed himself, Chris, and Wayne, as well as Mauro Cadorin and Marwan Nael on the network management team. Mauro and Marwan were hired as temporary contractors who contributed from March thru December 1998 and August thru October 1998, respectively.
[2] Today, the user-interface logic for Gmail, for example, is written in JavaScript.
[3] A JavaScript code snippet follows:
*** HTML CODE ***
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<style>
#map {
width: 500px;
height: 500px;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1>A Google Map</h1>
<p>Center of downtown in Indianapolis, IN </p>
<div id="map"></div>
<script src="js/google-map.js"></script>
</body>
</html>