Sun Brews Java Tools Updates
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The Java Studio Enterprise 7 platform, available now, offers a collaboration feature called Code-Aware that allows distributed teams of developers in different buildings and different continents work together on projects, according to Sun.
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Sun puts very early versions of the source code on its Web site so Java programmers could better see and participate in its development.
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InfoWorld - Sun is working on a long list of potential features for the planned JDK (Java Development Kit) 7, which is based partially on the upcoming Java Standard Edition (SE) 7.
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Sun Microsystems Inc is courting community views for the next version of Java 2 Standard Edition, the foundation stone of Java scheduled for spring 2006.
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(InfoWorld) - Sun Microsystems has added Ruby support to the NetBeans IDE and bolstered the JRuby platform as well, company officials acknowledged on Thursday. The early-access release of the NetBeans Ruby Pack is comprised of a plug-in to the open-source NetBeans development environment supporting Ruby and JRuby, which is a Java implementation of Ruby that runs on the Java Virtual Machine. NetBeans has been centered on Java but is being extended to Ruby. Ruby developers typically have not been using IDEs, Sun officials said. But Sun's announcement "really gives you a much more productive environment than you've had for Ruby before," said Tor Norbye, a Sun senior staff engineer. Sun has taken notice of the popularity of Ruby. "It's offered a new way of looking at development: more agile, more fun in a lot of ways," said Charles Nutter, also a senior staff engineer at Sun. He and Thomas Enebo are the core developers of JRuby; both began working at Sun in September. By accommodating Ruby, Sun is branching out from its Java mindset, said James Governor, principal analyst at RedMonk. "If you just look at this overall, there are some sacred cows being slaughtered here," Governor said. "There is a real change in Sun's thinking, and it really does [appear] that the Java permafrost is beginning to thaw," with Sun supporting scripting languages like Ruby, he said. "Ruby is the hottest scripting language out there right now," said Governor, who added he expects Sun to make a similar move to support another popular scripting language, PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor). The NetBeans Ruby Pack enables features like code completion. Integration documentation pop-ups are offered for Ruby API calls. Also included is semantic analysis with highlighting of parameters and unused local variables. "The key thing is Ruby developers have not been used to getting a lot of the features you've had in the Java world," such as code completion, said Norbye. NetBeans Ruby capabilities extend to the Ruby on Rails Web framework as well. "This helps you write Ruby on Rails apps faster," Norbye said. Ruby support is available for NetBeans 6 Milestone 7 as a download. The upcoming NetBeans 6.0 platform, due in November, will be bundled with Ruby support. To access the Ruby technology, NetBeans users can click here and then choose the Q-Build option under Build Type. Meanwhile, Sun is formally announcing the 0.9.8 release of JRuby, with enhanced support for Ruby on Rails on Monday. Compatibility issues have been addressed, according to Sun.
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Software company releases an update to its Java development tool, NXJ.
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New name, old support model Red Hat hopes to stand out from other vendors offering Eclipse-based Java tools by not discriminating between "free" and "useful" when it comes to features in its JBoss Developer Studio, released this week.â¦
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Solaris tools breath easy The release of the 6.0 version of the Sun Microsystems-sponsored, open-source NetBeans IDE last week sounded the death knell for two other Sun-spawned development tools: Java Studio Enterprise and Java Studio Creator.â¦
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Build a web application in minutes NetBeans and Ruby, part 2 Having limped along in the wake of Eclipse, Sun Microsystems' NetBeans is getting its second wind. One thing that's helping is a fresh focus on scripting, particularly around Ruby on Rails.â¦
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InfoWorld - Sun Microsystems on Tuesday unveiled Version 7 of the company&#8217;s enterprise development tool suite, Sun Java Studio Enterprise, and previewed a JVM that will support 64-bit AMD Opteron processors.
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(InfoWorld) - Sun continues to work on the Java Kernel, the idea of which is to provide a subset of the Java Runtime Environment tuned to particular programs. Formerly known as Java Browser Edition, the Java Kernel is planned for release as part of Java Standard Edition (SE) 6 update 4, probably in early-2008, a Sun representative said on Friday. Developers will have early access to the code to provide feedback. An original intent was to make Java like a Flash plug-in and enable a resurgence of Java on the browser. Applications would specify which features they need, such as Swing and XML parsing, said Sun staff engineer Ethan Nicholas, who is working on the project. "The basic idea was that the current Java Runtime Environment is simply too big, and most programs require only a small subset of the functionality," Nicholas wrote in September 2006 on his blog. "The 'browser edition' that I suggested would enable you to install exactly the subset of Java that your particular program required, but you would be able to download all of the other functionality on demand (and thus be fully compatible with J2SE)." Some Sun employees doubted the project would fly, according to Nicholas. Even a detailed analysis of the idea painted a bleak picture, he said. "The feature did in fact get submitted as a proposal for Java 7 under the name "Java Kernel" (the idea being that you download a small "kernel" of Java functionality, which is in turn capable of downloading the rest of it)," Nicholas said. Nicholas said he developed a stripped-down JRE installed containing only enough functionality to run "System.out.println," or "Hello World." To determine which files were necessary for the project, Nicholas wrote a program to iterate through the JRE files. "After going through all of the files in this fashion, I was left with an extremely minimal JRE that could run Hello World and ... well, that's about it. But it at least provided a starting point. Building a working installer from this JRE was itself a challenge because several of the files that weren't necessary to run Hello World were still necessary to successfully install the JRE, but I persevered and now have a fully functioning, minimal JRE," Nicholas said. Comments about the project posted on Nicholas's blog varied. "I also believe modularization of the JRE is the solution. Not just for the size of the download, but also for different other issues," one commenter said in 2006. "The problem here is that Java isn't just a browser based technology, it's a platform. When I write a Java applet or application, I expect the platform to be there," said another respondent.
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Migrate and be damned Sun Microsystems is reaching out to scripters and developers on rivals' IDEs with enterprise tools and a migration program for its latest version of NetBeans.â¦
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The Apache Harmony project, serving as an Apache-branded open-source version of Java, is moving forward, but a disagreement remains with Sun over compliance testing.Predating Sun's November 2006 open-sourcing of Java, Harmony was begun in May 2005 and presents an open-source implementation of Java Platform, Standard Edition (SE) 5.0. While the subsequent Sun effort might at first glance seem to have rendered Apache's project obsolete, an Apache official sees room for more than just Sun's open-source Java."There are multiple implementations of Java and there happens to be two implementations in open source," said Geir Magnusson, a founder of the Harmony project at the Apache Software Foundation and a member of the Harmony project management committee, on Wednesday.The Apache Harmony project group announced Wednesday the availability of Harmony 5.0 Milestone 4, another step in delivering a fully compliant implementation of the Java SE 5 specification. Magnusson did not have a date for when Apache plans to release the final product. Harmony is meant for running Java programs and includes the Java Virtual Machine, a Java development kit, and class libraries.Milestone 4 features enhancements and optimizations, including full 64-bit support and JIT (Just-In-Time) compiler optimizations. The compiler takes Java byte code and turns it into native instances for the CPU, improving performance.Also added were functionality and coverage enhancements through class libraries as well as improved virtual machine threading. "What the threading does is it allows multiple code paths to execute at the same time," Magnusson said. This provides more efficient handing of Java code, he added.Apache remains in disagreement with Sun, however, over terms for a TCK (Test Compatibility Kit) to verify that Harmony is compatible with the Java specification."The license Sun is offering to Apache for the TCK, the test kit for the Java specification, prevents Apache from distributing our independent implementation under the Apache license," Magnusson said. According to Apache's interpretation of the Sun license agreement, restrictions are placed on downstream users pertaining to fields of use. Users could not implement the Java variant beyond a plain desktop system, said Magnusson.For example, using Java in a kiosk, which is a plain PC in a box, would be out of compliance, he said.Limiting Apache's distribution of its own software is unacceptable, said Magnusson. "We're stuck between a rock and a hard place," Magnusson said."Obviously, we'd like the TCK," Magnusson said.Because of this ongoing dispute, Apache lately has been voting against any JSR (Java Specification Request) that has Sun as being the specification lead. JSRs serve to amend the Java specification as part of the official JCP (Java Community Process). Sun, Apache believes, is out of compliance with the JCP because the company does not provide TCK licenses that do not inhibit how an implementation can be distributed, said Magnusson.In response, a Sun representative said Wednesday that Apache is free to use any of three options for determining Java compatibility, including a scholarship program free of charge to non-profit organizations like Apache. The representative also referred to an August blog entry from Rich Green, Sun executive vice president for software, which addressed the issue. Green cited Sun's choice of the GNU General Public License version 2 as root of the problem."We knew when we chose the GPL and the free software model for Java technology that we couldn't satisfy everyone's desires. This is the case for the Apache Harmony Project at the Apache Software Foundation," Green said."Sun has offered Apache Harmony a license to use the JCK (Java Compatibility Kit) and the Java Compatible logo at no charge once their implementation passes the tests, and we're even offering free support to help Apache run the JCK. But because the Apache code is not governed by the GPL and does not require code-sharing by any entity using or modifying Harmony, the terms of this license are the same terms under which Sun licenses the JCK to commercial entities that build their own independent implementations of the Java SE platform," Green said."As was made clear in their open letter to Sun, [Apache] is not satisfied with these terms," Green said."Unlike the GPL, the Apache open source license does not require innovation to remain in the open. Java technology governed by the Apache license could be altered by any organization -- commercial or non-profit -- and rendered both incompatible and inaccessible to the community. The trust and value of "Write Once Run Anywhere" could not be upheld," said Green.
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Sun plans to discontinue its Sun Java Studio Enterprise and Sun Java Studio Creator developer tools and encourage users to move to the NetBeans IDE.
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The tools, part of an upcoming Visual Studio update, is focused on making it easier to create customized Web applications.
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InfoWorld - Sun Microsystems has added Ruby support to the NetBeans IDE and bolstered the JRuby platform as well, company officials acknowledged on Thursday.
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InfoWorld - Application developers got several new options last week as Sun Microsystems updated J2SE, Borland upped its CORBA ante, and Compuware announced products that will work with Microsoft&#8217;s Visual Studio 2005 toolbox.