Sun already supports AJAX in its Sun Java Studio Creator tool and plans to offer more AJAX tools, with many of them to be offered via open source. Sun can generate revenues via AJAX through enabling deployment on Sun platforms such as the company's application server and portal. Sun also can sell training and support services, Roberts said.

The Dojo Foundation is a non-profit organization for JavaScript programming and features the Dojo Toolkit project which is an open source JavaScript toolkit for Web development. Sun will contribute to the toolkit AJAX widgets, and it will help with internationalization and refinement of documentation. Sun AJAX Architect Greg Murray will be one of Sun's representatives with the foundation.

In joining the two AJAX groups, Sun with its new management team is demonstrating intentions to do more with JavaScpript and look at scripting languages as full peers to Java, said James Governor, principal analyst at RedMonk.

"[With the new management team in place], we're going to see a lot more that is not obsessed with Java," Governor said.

Sun does not see AJAX as a rival to Java, Roberts said. Java and JavaScript coexist, according to Roberts.