zdnet.com
Tool vendors bundling up
By Antone Gonsalves, PC Week Online
03.02.98
Oracle Corp. and third-party tool suppliers
are answering the call of developers looking
to embrace component strategies for linking
Web applications with legacy systems.
Next week at Spring Internet World in Los Angeles, Oracle will
introduce Web Developer Suite 1.6, a comprehensive tool package that
combines RAD (rapid application development) capabilities for creating
reusable, cross-platform components that can run in distributed
environments and leverage existing applications.
"The Internet has created this double-edged sword where you love the
richness of the environment," said David Lineman, Internet specialist
with Enron Oil and Gas Co., in Houston. "But you have to pick a
technology quickly that looks good and stick with it just so you can get a
return for your investment."
The $9,995 package, due at the end of the month, includes a final beta
version of the company's new AppBuilder for Java along with current
editions of Developer 2000, Designer 2000, Oracle Application Server,
Oracle8 and Oracle7 databases, and Symantec Corp.'s Visual Page
HTML editor, according to Oracle officials in Redwood Shores, Calif.
AppBuilder incorporates technology that Oracle licensed last year from
Borland International Inc., used in its JBuilder tool. It also contains
wizards for helping developers build Java classes and deploy them on a
mid-tier server as Common Object Request Broker Architecture
objects.
Other wizards build data-aware components in Java for accessing
relational databases. The tool also contains Java Database Connectivity
drivers, as well as native Oracle drivers.
Developers will be able to write triggers, procedures and methods in
Java for Oracle 8.1, which is scheduled for release in beta in the middle
of the year and due by the end of the year, officials said.
In May, Oracle will ship Version 2.0 of the suite, which will contain
upgrades to Designer, Developer, the Application Server and the final
release of AppBuilder. Version 1.6 users will be able to upgrade to the
final version for free.
Jim Hendricks, vice president of technology for DBSoft Inc., in River
Edge, N.J., said having a tool set that can build applications that connect
front ends to databases in a Web environment is important for
consistency across all levels of development and for ease of use.
"If the components are designed to all work together, then there's less
that you as a developer have to do," Hendricks said.
Oracle isn't alone. Microsoft Corp. will release this summer Visual
Studio 6.0, geared toward making client/server and multiple-tier
development easier. The upgrade contains tight integration between
Visual C++, Visual Basic and Visual J++ with Microsoft's new OLE
DB and ActiveX data object method for accessing multiple databases.
The Studio's component for Web-based development, Visual InterDev
6.0, is set for release in beta next quarter. It will also be on display at
Internet World, said officials of the Redmond, Wash., company.
IBM last month shipped VisualAge e-business, an integrated tool set
focused on the network computing architecture of thin clients and fat
servers. Users can expect this year an upgrade to VisualAge for Java
that will include more connectors to middleware and features for team
development, according to Scott Hebner, program director for
application development marketing for IBM, in Armonk, N.Y.
IBM also will release a new product, VisualAge ISPF, that generates
Java front ends for mainframe hosts, Hebner said.
Among the new features Sybase Inc. has planned for its PowerStudio
suite is support for Enterprise JavaBeans in PowerJ, after the Enterprise
JavaBeans specification is finalized this year, said Bob Zurek, vice
president of technology for the Emeryville, Calif., company.
Smart Packaging, smart bundling are the game here!
regards,
BPP(Bipin's partner) |
