Oracle plans to launch its latest JDeveloper tool, featuring
support for the latest Java and Web services standards as well as
commonly used open source technologies.
Analysts said many of the enhancements will bring the tool up to
par with the most recent offerings from vendors such as IBM and
Borland.
"Their issue has been convincing people this would be a viable
tool, even if I happen to target somebody else's application server
or database," said Thomas Murphy, an analyst at Meta Group.
John Meyer, an analyst at Giga Information Group, said that
although the release of JDeveloper 9.0.3 gives Oracle much of the
standards support it needs, "it doesn't have the boost that would
propel it past the other major vendors' products". That added boost
will come from the eventual tighter integration of frameworks that
reduce the amount of code developers need to write, increasing
their efficiency, he added.
Other features in JDeveloper 9.0.3 include support for Java 2
Enterprise Edition 1.3 and Enterprise JavaBeans 2.0, and a My
JDeveloper extension manager that lets developers personalise the
IDE with features they frequently use. In addition, the new version
will allow developers to visually create Web services with a UML
Class Modeler.
JDeveloper 9.0.3 is available for free download from the Oracle
Technology Network (OTN). The cost to users deploying applications
is $995 (£643).
Last week, Oracle also announced availability of the first version
of its 9i Application Server TopLink object relational mapping tool
for building Java applications with relational databases. Oracle
acquired the tool in June from WebGain, which sold off most of its
technology this year.
TopLink is now available as a built-in feature of Oracle9i
Application Server. Company officials also confirmed plans to
support the tool for use with non-Oracle J2EE-compliant application
servers, such as BEA Systems Inc.'s WebLogic and IBM's
WebSphere.
A developer edition of TopLink can be downloaded for free from the
OTN. The licensing cost is $7,000 (£4,524) per processor.