Widely referred to as the "Oscars of the software industry," the JDJ Readers' Choice Awards program has become the most respected industry competition of its kind.

The polls were open for just under a year, from November 6, 2001, through September 23, 2002, and no fewer than 30,000 Java Developer's Journal readers cast their votes. The total number of award nominations also reached a new record high, with more than 180 companies nominating over 705 products in 29 different award categories. That is seven more categories than last year, and the new ones reflect emerging trends in the Java space, such as "Best Wireless Java Application" and "Best XML Tool."

Java Developer's Journal Readers' Choice Award recipients are selected through reader-submitted nominations, followed by online voting. An independent research firm manages the voting process.

Best Java Book
Winner: Java Message Service
by Richard Monson-Haefel and David A. Chappell from O'Reilly & Associates
1st Runner-Up: J2EE Applications and BEA WebLogic Server
by Michael Girdley, Rob Woollen, and Sandra L. Emerson from Prentice-Hall
2nd Runner-Up: Core J2EE Patterns: Best Practices and Design Strategies by Deepak Alur, Dan Malks, and John Crupi from Prentice-Hall
3rd Runner-Up: Java in a Nutshell by David Flanagan from O'Reilly & Associates

Best Database Tool or Driver
Winner: Oracle9i Business Components for Java from Oracle
1st Runner-Up: XML Spy Suite 4.2 from Altova
2nd Runner-Up: Oracle9iAS TopLink from Oracle
3rd Runner-Up: MM.MySQL JDBC Driver from MySQL AB

Best Enterprise Database
Winner: Oracle9i Database from Oracle
1st Runner-Up: IBM DB2 Universal Database v7.2 from IBM
2nd Runner-Up: Borland JDataStore from Borland Software Corp.
3rd Runner-Up: MySQL from MySQL AB

Best J2EE IDE
Winner: IBM WebSphere Studio Application Developer 4.0 from IBM
1st Runner-Up: Forte for Java/NetBeans from Sun Microsystems
2nd Runner-Up: Oracle9i JDeveloper from Oracle
3rd Runner-Up: Borland JBuilder from Borland Software Corp.

Best J2ME IDE
Winner: IBM VisualAge Micro Edition from IBM
1st Runner-Up: Oracle9i JDeveloper from Oracle
2nd Runner-Up: Borland JBuilder MobileSet from Borland Software Corp.
3rd Runner-Up: CodeWarrior for Java from Metroworks

Best J2SE IDE
Winner: Oracle9i JDeveloper from Oracle
1st Runner-Up: Borland JBuilder from Borland Software Corp.
2nd Runner-Up: Forte for Java/NetBeans from Sun Microsystems
3rd Runner-Up: IntelliJ IDEA from JetBrains, Inc.

Best Java Application
Winner: Oracle9i JDeveloper from Oracle
1st Runner-Up: Borland JBuilder from Borland Software Corp.
2nd Runner-Up: BEA WebLogic Server 7.0 from BEA
3rd Runner-Up: IntelliJ IDEA from JetBrains, Inc.

Best Java Application Server
Winner: BEA WebLogic Server 7.0 from BEA Systems
1st Runner-Up: IBM WebSphere Studio Application Server 4.0 from IBM
2nd Runner-Up: Oracle9i Application Server from Oracle
3rd Runner-Up: JBoss from jboss.org

Best Java Class Library
Winner: The Java Collections Framework from Sun Microsystems
1st Runner-Up: Oracle9i JDeveloper ­ BC4J BI Beans from Oracle
2nd Runner-Up: Host Access Class Library from IBM
3rd Runner-Up: Eclipse from Eclipse Technology, Inc.

Best Java Component
Winner: ILOG JTGO from ILOG, Inc.
1st Runner-Up: Oracle Business Components for Java from Oracle
2nd Runner-Up: BEA WebLogic Portal from BEA
3rd Runner-Up: Sitraka JClass from Sitraka

Best Java Data Access Tool
Winner: Oracle Business Components for Java from Oracle
1st Runner-Up: XML Spy Suite 4.2 from Altova
2nd Runner-Up: Oracle9iAS TopLink from Oracle
3rd Runner-Up: CA Advantage EDBC for Java Data Access from Computer Associates

Best Java Developer Studio
Winner: Together ControlCenter 5.5 from TogetherSoft
1st Runner-Up: IBM WebSphere Studio Application Developer 4.0 from IBM
2nd Runner-Up: Oracle9i JDeveloper from Oracle
3rd Runner-Up: Borland Enterprise Studio for Java from Borland Software Corp.

Best Java EAI Platform
Winner: IBM WebSphere MQ from IBM
1st Runner-Up: Oracle9i Application Server from Oracle
2nd Runner-Up: BEA WebLogic Integration from BEA
3rd Runner-Up: SonicXQ 1.0 from Sonic Software Corp.

Best Java e-Business Framework
Winner: IBM WebSphere from IBM
1st Runner-Up: Oracle9i JDeveloper with Business Components for Java from Oracle
2nd Runner-Up: BEA WebLogic Server 7.0 from BEA
3rd Runner-Up: Borland JBuilder from Borland Software Corp.

Best Java IDE Environment
Winner: IBM WebSphere Studio Application Developer 4.0 from IBM
1st Runner-Up: NetBeans from Sun Microsystems
2nd Runner-Up: Oracle9i JDeveloper from Oracle
3rd Runner-Up: Borland JBuilder from Borland Software Corp.

Best Java Installation Tool
Winner: InstallAnywhere from Zero G Software
1st Runner-Up: InstallShield MultiPlatform from InstallShield
2nd Runner-Up: Java Message Queue from Sun Microsystems
3rd Runner-Up: Sitraka DeployDirector from Sitraka

Best Java Messaging Tool
Winner: IBM WebSphere MQ from IBM
1st Runner-Up: Oracle9i Application Server from Oracle
2nd Runner-Up: SonicMQ 4.0 from Sonic Software Corp.
3rd Runner-Up: BEA WebLogic Server 7.0 from BEA

Best Java Modeling Tool
Winner: MagicDraw UML 5.0 from No Magic, Inc.
1st Runner-Up: Oracle9i JDeveloper from Oracle
2nd Runner-Up: Rational Rose Professional J Edition from Rational Software Corp.
3rd Runner-Up: Together ControlCenter 5.5 from TogetherSoft

Best Java Profiling Tool
Winner: Oracle9i JDeveloper from Oracle
1st Runner-Up: Metameta Debug Enterprise from Metameta
2nd Runner-Up: IBM VisualAge Micro Edition ­ MicroAnalyzer from IBM
3rd Runner-Up: Borland Optimizeit Suite 4.11 from Borland Software Corp.

Best Java Reporting Tool
Winner: StyleReportEE from InetSoft Technology Corp.
1st Runner-Up: Oracle9iAS Reports/Discoverer from Oracle
2nd Runner-Up: Together ControlCenter 5.5 from TogetherSoft
3rd Runner-Up: JReport from Jinfonet Software

Best Java Testing Tool
Winner: Borland Optimizeit Suite 4.11 from Borland Software Corp.
1st Runner-Up: Oracle9i JDeveloper from Oracle
2nd Runner-Up: JUnit from Object Mentor, Inc.
3rd Runner-Up: Rational Suite TestStudio from Rational Software Corp.

Best Wireless Java Application
Winner: IBM WebSphere Transcoding Publisher from IBM
1st Runner-Up: Oracle9i Application Server from Oracle
2nd Runner-Up: iAnywhere m-Business Studio from iAnywhere Solutions, a Sybase company
3rd Runner-Up: COOL:Plex/Websydian from Computer Associates

Best XML Tool
Winner: XML Spy Suite 4.2 from Altova
1st Runner-Up: IBM WebSphere Studio Application Developer 4.0 from IBM
2nd Runner-Up: Oracle9i XDK from Oracle
3rd Runner-Up: Borland JBuilder from Borland Software Corp.

Most Innovative Java Product
Winner: Together ControlCenter 5.5 from TogetherSoft
1st Runner-Up: IBM WebSphere Studio Application Developer 4.0 from IBM
2nd Runner-Up: Oracle9i Application Server with Advanced Clustering from Oracle
3rd Runner-Up: Borland JBuilder from Borland Software Corp.

Best Java Virtual Machine
Winner: Oracle9i JVM from Oracle
1st Runner-Up: The J9 Virtual Machine from IBM/Object Technology International
2nd Runner-Up: Java HotSpot Performance Engine from Sun Microsystems
3rd Runner-Up: BEA WebLogic JRockit Server Side VM from BEA

Best Team Development Tool
Winner: MagicDraw UML 5.0 Teamwork Server from No Magic, Inc.
1st Runner-Up: Oracle9i SCM from Oracle
2nd Runner-Up: Borland JBuilder from Borland Software Corp.
3rd Runner-Up: Rational ClearCase from Rational Software Corp.

Best Mobile Database
Winner: PointBase Micro 4.1 from PointBase
1st Runner-Up: Oracle9i Lite from Oracle
2nd Runner-Up: Cloudscape from IBM
3rd Runner-Up: Borland JDataStore from Borland Software Corp.

Best Java Web Services Development Toolkit
Winner: IBM Web Services Toolkit from IBM
1st Runner-Up: Oracle9i JDeveloper from Oracle
2nd Runner-Up: Borland Web Services Kit for Java from Borland Software Corp.
3rd Runner-Up: SonicXQ 1.0 from Sonic Software Corp.