Embarcadero Technologies is bringing together Java design and
development environments under a single interface, with the release
of Describe early next month, writes Eric Doyle.
Describe addresses the problems of enabling Unified Modelling
Language (UML) tools to communicate with Integrated Development
Environments (IDE). In the past, developers have wasted a lot of
time because they have to switch back and forth from design
environment to development environment.
This, and the fact that UML tools have to keep design artifacts
synchronised with the actual code as it is being built, has had a
negative effect on the uptake of UML.
Describe combines the two environments by embedding modelling
functionality within a range of Java-based IDEs to allow users to
view and manipulate the class model and its underlining code
simultaneously
David Oates, Embarcadero's vice-president for EMEA, said, "The cost
of time spent in transition between the two environments can be
prohibitive. Describe is designed to offer a low-cost method of
uniting the design and development software so that both can be
viewed on the same screen."
Because UML was bypassed in the past, the ability to see both
environments on screen means that existing applications can be
fully documented through reverse engineering.