Borland Ships New Version of Industry-Leading
VisiBroker Object Request Brokers for Java and C++
VisiBroker 3.2 Offers Enhanced Performance and Usability
SAN FRANCISCO, JavaOne Booth #527, March 23 /PRNewswire/ -- Borland
International, Inc. (Nasdaq: BORL - news) today announced the general availability of
VisiBroker 3.2, Borland's industry-leading CORBA-compliant ORB for building, deploying
and managing distributed Java and C++ applications. With this release, Borland continues
to upgrade the overall enterprise computing capabilities introduced last summer by Visigenic
Software with the initial VisiBroker 3.0 release. Major enhancements in version 3.2 extend
the ORB's performance, usability and customization capabilities, furthering the standard for
developer productivity and building enterprise distributed object applications. Today's
announcement was made as part of Sun Microsystem's JavaOne developer conference
being held here this week (booth #527).
''Borland is committed to continually improving the VisiBroker product line to satisfy the
requirements of enterprise-class applications,'' said Dr. Jens Christensen, chief scientist at
Borland. ''We have a team dedicated to enhancing the VisiBroker for Java and C++ ORBs
while working to add new services such as the Integrated Transaction Service and Security
Service to meet the needs of enterprise distributed object applications. This release again
confirms our leadership in providing a CORBA environment for building productive,
scalable enterprise applications.''
''When we chose to integrate with VisiBroker 3.0, we were impressed with the product's
overall flexibility in combining thin-client applications with existing system infrastructures,''
said Gary Zakon, vice president of engineering at Novera, a provider of software products
that help organizations build, implement, and manage distributed Java applications across
the enterprise. ''We are now especially pleased with the performance and usability
improvements included in VisiBroker 3.2 for Java, which increase the support for
development and deployment of enterprise applications.''
VisiBroker 3.2 supports Borland's philosophy of providing a powerful development
environment with great usability. As a result, by extending the enterprise computing
capabilities of VisiBroker, enhanced development efforts were focused on performance,
scalability, usability and customization.
Highlights of VisiBroker 3.2 include:
Improved Performance and Scalability
Connection management for building scalable distributed applications have been
further optimized, resulting in improved performance and support for a larger number
of users. In particular, performance for VisiBroker for Java 3.2 has been significantly
improved, resulting in 20 to 40 percent faster invocations of remote servers
compared to previous versions.
The use of the object wrapper feature will also improve performance as its ability to
cache information locally on the client or the server eliminates the need for
subsequent remote access to the server or database.
Enhancements have been made to improve proxy performance for Internet- based
distributed applications. VisiBroker Gatekeeper, a key component of these solutions,
enables Java applets running under a client browser to communicate to server objects
on multiple hosts via the standard ORB protocol, IIOP, or the web HTTP protocol.
Enhanced Usability
A graphical configuration tool for the VisiBroker Gatekeeper allows users to easily
customize Gatekeeper for their environment, supporting multiple options.
Support for the ''Dynamic Any'' feature of the CORBA portability specification
improves developers' productivity in building dynamic programs where the interfaces
are not known until runtime. Dynamic programs are valuable when building
applications that take advantage of dynamic clients, such as scripting languages or
browsers.
A revised Interface Definition Language (IDL) compiler provides more
comprehensive error messaging information, increasing developers' productivity.
Updated installation routines give developers even greater flexibility for getting started
with VisiBroker, such as the providing a single integrated installation of the naming
and event service with the ORB rather than separate installations.
Greater Customization
Object wrappers allow developers to customize their application by defining methods
that are executed when communicating with objects on the server. Requests can be
intercepted at both the client and server, allowing for greater flexibility and improved
performance. For example, object wrappers can be used to cache information on
both the client and server, when a request for the same information from a database
is repeated. The client or server are then notified and the cache is used to eliminate
the need for the actual operation.
Applications can be written to take advantage of a new API that allows for
administration at runtime. For example, this can change connection and thread
parameters based upon results from queries made in the program.
Borland's VisiBroker -- The Leading Deployed ORB Technology
Borland was the first company to release a Java ORB and the first to support IIOP in its
ORB products. The company was also the first ORB vendor to implement a new CORBA
standard for Java interoperability. Deployed licenses for Borland's VisiBroker ORB
surpassed 30 million in 1997, making VisiBroker the most widely distributed and adopted
ORB worldwide. Industry partnerships with Oracle, Hitachi, Novell, Netscape, Informix,
Silicon Graphics and others have played a key role in making VisiBroker the leading
deployed ORB in the computer industry. Recently, Borland's VisiBroker won DBMS
Magazine's 1997 Readers' Choice Award for best Object Request Broker.
Borland's VisiBroker ORB technology is designed to facilitate the development and
deployment of distributed object-based applications that are scaleable, flexible and easily
maintainable. VisiBroker allows organizations to leverage existing corporate applications
while developing and deploying new distributed applications. VisiBroker for Java and
VisiBroker for C++ implement the CORBA 2.0 and IIOP standards developed by the
Object Management Group (OMG), and can interoperate with other CORBA-2.0
compliant ORBs in a distributed object computing environment.
Platforms and Availability
VisiBroker 3.2 for Java is immediately available on all major JDK 1.1 platforms, including
Windows 95 and NT, Solaris 2.5 and 2.6, HP UX, AIX, Digital Unix, and SGI Irix.
VisiBroker 3.2 for C++ is immediately available on Solaris and Windows 95 and NT, with
other Unix platforms planned for next quarter.
For more information on Borland's enterprise solutions and VisiBroker, customers may call
Borland at 408-431-1064. Customers outside the U.S. should contact their local Borland
office, distributor or representative.
About Borland International
Borland International, Inc. is a leading provider of high-quality software products for
corporate application developers worldwide. Borland is distinguished for its award-winning
family of rapid application development tools and scalable middleware technology for
desktop, client/server, Internet/intranet, and enterprise systems. The company's products
are supported through comprehensive corporate and independent developer programs,
value-added resellers, and systems integrators. Founded in 1983, Borland is headquartered
in Scotts Valley, California. For more information on Borland, customers can visit Borland
online at borland.com.
Borland product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of Borland International,
Inc. Other product names mentioned herein may be trademarks of the party using such
names.
Forward-looking statements in this release, including but not limited to, those concerning
Borland's future financial performance, product availability dates, and the potential features
of or benefits to be derived from the Company's products, involve a number of uncertainties
and risks, and actual events or results may differ materially. Factors that could cause actual
events or results to differ materially include, among others, the following: difficulties in
integrating the operations and technology of Visigenic Software or other companies or
technologies which the Company may acquire, possible disruptive effects of organizational
or personnel changes, shifts in customer demand, market acceptance of the Company's new
or enhanced products, delays in scheduled product availability dates, actions or
announcements by competitors, software errors, general business conditions and market
growth rates in the client/server and Internet software markets, and other factors described
in the Company's S.E.C. reports on forms 10-K, 10-Q, 8-K, and the Borland prospectus
relating to the acquisition of Visigenic Software.
SOURCE: Borland International, Inc. |
