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More IDEs than Ever in the Swing
By Mark Andrews
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About The Great
IDE Roundup
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In this section, The Swing Connection
brings you reports on tools for Swing developers -- including
integrated development environments, source-code editors,
and Swing component builders. The articles in this section
are not conventional reviews; The Great IDE Roundup doesn't
make comparitive judgments award ratings. Rather, we report
our general impressions of the products we try out, and
let you hand out the awards.
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 As
autumn begins, there are so many new IDEs (integrated development
environments) that we're now preparing to update every IDE review
in this section.
Borland, Oracle, Sybase, IBM, Symantec, Visaj, and many smaller
software manufacturers premiered new or updated Swing-ready
development tools at the JavaOne
'99 conference in San Franciso.
 This
article lists and describes a number new or recently updated
Swing-friendly development tools that have recently burst on
the scene. Here's a summary of some of the most exciting new
products introduced at (or at about the same time as) Java One::
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Oracle has unvieled JDeveloper Suite
2.0, a giant software package that provides a complete
Java development environment for developing and deploying
applications ranging from Java and HTML clients to server-based
business components for the Internet computing platform. The
JDeveloper Suite 2.0 includes JDeveloper 2.0, Oracle8i, Oracle
Application Server 4.0, Oracle Procedure Builder 6.0, Oracle
Lite 3.6, and an online book, Thinking In Java, by
Bruce Eckels.
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Sybase has released PowerJ™ 3.0,
a key part of the new Sybase Enterprise Application Studio™
3.0. EAStudio 3.0 is an integrated set of application development
and deployment product sthat also includes Enterprise Application
Server™ 3.0 and PowerBuilder® 7.0. A key component in the
EAStudio package is the Web DataWindow™, designed to help
developers create ultra-thin-client Internet applications
with point-and-click simplicity.
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Symantec has announced the release
of its VisualCafé Enterprise Suite, a Java programming
language IDE designed for "the heterogeneous enterprise."
Enterprise Suite features powerful database functionality,
new productivity features, new support for server-side development,
and distributed debugging capabilities to simplify enterprise
application development using Java technology. Symantic says
that "VisualCafé Enterprise Suite is the most mature
and open Java development environment backed by extensive
industry-wide support."
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IBM has premiered VisualAge for
Java Version 3.0, an integrated development environment
for writing, compiling and testing 100% Pure Java™
applets, servlets, Java stored procedures and JavaBeans™
for enterprise e-business applications. New features in VisualAge
for Java include improved integration with IBM DB2 Universal
Database and with IBM's WebSphere family of application-development
tools. IBM sys the debut of VisualAge for Java 3.0, will "make
it easier than ever to quickly and securely develop e-business
applications and extend existing data to the Web."
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Borland has introduced JBuilder
3, a major new version of the Borland family of visual
development tools for creating platform independent Java
business and database applications. JBuilder 3 offers added
support for the JavaTM
2 platform and simplifies the creation of platform-independent
business and database applications, distributed enterprise
applications, and JavaBeansTM
components.
- Tek-tools has introduced Kawa 3.22, a maintenance
release of its popular Kawa source-code editor, JForge 2.61,
a Swing-based component builder. Together, Kawa and JForge provide
what Tek-Tools bills as a "simple, yet powerful" GUI
toolkit for Swing programmers. You can download free evaluation
copies of both tools from the Tek-tools
Internet site.
- NetBeans has released DeveloperX2 for Java 2,
which it calls "the first Java IDE to fully support Java
2 and Swing 1.1, DeveloperX2 is the latest addition to the NetBeans
Developer family of IDEs. Developer 2X, which was created and
built using Swing, comes with an integrated text editor, a debugger,
and a compiler. It features pluggable look-and-feel compatibility,
a dedicated form editor with support for various layout managers,
components from the KLGroup, and more. You can download a free
trial version of DeveloperX2 from the NetBeans
Web site.
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Metrowerks has announced Release
4 of CodeWarrior for Java, described
as "the only multi-platform Java development
tool set for the serious Java programmer." In
releasing Version 4, the company declared: "CodeWarrior
has everything you need for real cross platform Java
development. The CodeWarrior Integrated Development
Environment includes all of the foundation components
for Java development including a project manager,
editor, browser, compiler, and debugger. It offers
full support for JDK 1.2, JDK 1.1.6, and JFC (including
Swing)."
- Omnicore has premiered a beta version of CodeGuide,
a new code editor built using JFC. For a free download, visit
the company's Web site. Omnicore says that CodeGuide, written
in 100% Pure Java, is "an intelligent editor which analyzes
your Java source code as you type. CodeGuide is able to find program
errors during the creation time of your programs." A free
download is available from the company's Web
site.
- JEdit, an open-source code editor that available from
the Giant Java Tree under the GNU general public license,
will soon be released in a new JFC 1.2-compatitble version to
be known as Version 1.6. JEdit is written completely in Java using
the Swing component set. You can download an early-access version
of Release 1.6 -- or -- from the Release 1.5.1, which is the current
version -- from the www.git.org
Web site.
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BlueJ: Synkronix has announced
the release of BlueJ TM,
a new graphical application development tool. BlueJ is written
entirely in the Java TM
programming language, so it runs on any graphics-capable
platform. BlueJ generates programs using AWT components,
JFC components, Synkronix-tailored components, and with
JavaBeans TM components.
A full review will appear soon in this section. Meanwhile,
you can obtain more information about BlueJ at the company's
Web site, http://www.synkronix.com/bluej.html.
Watch upcoming issues of The Swing Connection for new articles
about all these new and updated Swing-ready development products.
Articles
in This Section
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