Reviews:
Summaries of the latest Java IDEs, tools, and products for programmers and non-programmers alike.
NetBeans 5.5: Java IDE Comes into Its Own
The latest NetBeans IDE release includes features that rival
the finest in the market today. Find out why NetBeans is making
substantial inroads into the vast IDE market previously dominated
by Eclipse.
Stripes Takes Struts to the Next Level
Struts has done a good job all these years, but it may be time
for a new framework's day in the sun. Learn about some of
Stripes' features and how developing a Stripes application is a
step up from Struts.
Agile Development: An Expert Roundtable
At the last No Fluff, Just Stuff symposium in New York, Barry
Burd asked three experts to explain Agile development. Here's
what they had to say.
FreeMarker: Separating the Model and Presentation Layers
Though MVC was designed to separate the model and the view layers
of application, rendering languages like JSP have had difficulty
clearly separating these layers. As applications get more
complicated, model elements eventually creep into the view layer,
creating a maintenance nightmare. Find out how this open source
tool outshines the others when it comes to clearing the path between
design and development.
Object-relational Mapping with Cayenne ORM
The trend towards using system-generated classes has fueled the
market for JDO-based systems and object-relational mapping (ORM)
tools. Find out how Cayenne ORM compares to some of the best
tools in this arena.
WebWork: The New Framework on the Block
This framework distinguishes itself from others on the market
by having understood their common limitations and working to
eliminate them. Read about this MVC-based framework's unique
features—and it's future as part of the new Struts release.
Rich Internet Applications Made Easy with the Composite Application Integrator
New strategies are emerging to make Rich Internet Applications
(RIA) the wave of the future. SoftwareAG's new AJAX-based
Composite Application Integrator hopes to lead the way. Drew
Falkman investigates.
Ruby on Rails vs. Java: An Expert Roundtable
At this year's No Fluff, Just Stuff symposium in New York, Barry
Burd asked three experts to compare Java with Ruby on Rails--a
framework, built on the Ruby language. Here.s what the experts
had to say.
Time Management Made Easy with the Quartz Enterprise Job Scheduler
Why not just use the Java timer API? This open source scheduling
API boasts simplicity, ease-of-integration, a well-rounded feature
set, and it's free!
Streamline Content Management with CRX
Most developers currently use disparate systems, tools, and
applications to handle a variety content for a myraid of different
purposes within their organizations. Wouldn't it be nice to have
a centralized content repository--with a standardized interface
—through which to manage it all? Drew Falkman investigates.
Open Source Java Application Management: BlueGlue and MyJavaPack
Community development might give us all better tools, but working
with open source can be a logistical nightmare. As open source
proliferates, a new genre of tools is emerging with
simpflification as its aim: open source infrastructure management.
Drew Falkman investigates.
Java Studio Creator 2 Trading Ease-of-use for Performance
Is Java Studio Creator 2 the IDE beginning and small-scale
application developers have been looking for? With its low cost,
drag-and-drop GUI, and easy database connectivity, the answer may
be yes—but be prepared to make some trade-offs.
Open Source Java Game Utilities: LWJGL 0.98 and Game Gardens
Faster processors and improvements to JVM technologies mean you
can start doing some pretty cool stuff with graphics and
interactivity—good news for game development. Drew Falkman
investigates two open source game libraries that can help you
take advantage of the latest advancements.
James: The Java Apache Mail Enterprise Server
This open source, 100 percent pure Java e-mail server, developed
by the Apache Software Foundation, has all the qualities of an
industrial-strength e-mail server. Learn about the additional
qualities that make James a unique option for your e-mail server
needs.
Review: Wicket 1.1
Why do we need another Web framework for Java? This new open
source framework boasts that it's a unique combination component
model and easy-to-use HTML interface, with a list of killer features.
Drew Falkman investigates.
Review: Chart FX 6.2 (Beta) for Java
When it comes to graphing, Java developers turn to third-party
applications because there's no graphing support built into the
Java API. Software FX's Chart FX goes the extra mile, proclaiming
to be the easiest way to integrate charts into Java and J2EE
applications. Drew Falkman investigates.
Interview: Bruce Tate on the "Poltics of Persistence"
Author Bruce Tate talks aboout the major Java persistence
frameworks, the politics involved in which framework dominates,
and the future of Java technology in general.
Review: Altova UModel 2005
Though UML is widely supported by key development players such as
Microsoft, Oracle, and IBM, the cost of UML tools has prevented
it from becoming widespread. Altova aims to change that by
offering an inexpensive UML tool designed specifically for the
smaller development shop. Is it time for you to start working
with UML? Drew Falkman investigates.
Review: Omnicore X-develop Professional 1.0
Today's heterogeneous environments require developers to be able
to switch between multiple environments, thus incurring the need
for multiple IDEs. But Omnicore's X-develop may make the hassle of
multiple IDEs a thing of the past. Drew Falkman invesigates.
MX4J: An Open Source JMX Implementation
MX4J is an open source implementation of the Java Management
Extensions (JMX) specifications provided by Java. The JMX spec
is designed to allow clients to manage applications and their
subcomponents remotely at runtime, so that routine management
tasks can be done without affecting the main application. Many
of the latest application servers and Java applications in the
market today use JMX to manage servers, database pools, and other
management components through JMX.
Review: InterSystems Cachi 5 Database
This "post-relational" database combines object-oriented data
storage with a robust relational database. It's generated a lot
of buzz, but what does it offer for Java developers? Drew Falkman
takes a look under the hood.
OpenEJB: Modular, Configurable, and Customizable
Why reinvent the wheel when most of it already exists? Find out
how OpenEJB's modular, configurable, and customizable architecture
allows you to leave the details to its subsystems and concentrate
on what you're really good at.
IDE Wars: Has NetBeans 4.1 Eclipsed Eclipse?
Word on the street is that the latest NetBeans release surpasses
Eclipse—in terms of both performance and functionality. Drew
Falkman investigates.
Review: dotJ Custom Tag Library 2.0
While JSP custom tags allow you for the reuse of code snippets,
many developers never look futher than the standard tag library.
Find out how the dotJ Custom Tag Library can help you to build better
applications in less time.
Review: Laszlo 2.2
As Rich Internet Application (RIA) development proliferates, so
does the number of RIA tools. This open-source platform takes
Flash as its client and uses LZX, a standards-driven XML and
Javascript language. Drew Falkman investigates.
Review: Gluecode JOE
Gluecode's JOE is a set of open source projects tied together to make
a coherent platform for developing Java applications. It promises all the
benefits of open source with less of the headaches. In this month's review,
Drew Falkman finds out whether JOE delivers.
Review: M7 NitroX 2.0 J2EE IDE
It's ironic that J2EE is pushing its fifth version soon and it's
still all but impossible to find a good integrated development
environment (IDE). OK, yes, there are a few proprietary ones--but
doesn't that go against the whole notion of using an "open" platform?
Drew Falkman stumbled upon M7's NitroX recently, and had a
good feeling about it. They were saying all the right things,
so he thought he'd take it for a test ride.
Review: JInspired JDBInsight 3.0 Early Access
One of the largest potential bottlenecks that J2EE developers
have to deal with is between the application and the RDBMS
server. And of course, this is also one of the most difficult
areas in an application to test. JInspired's JDBInsight looks to
solve our problems in this regard and Drew is taking it for a
test ride.
Logic Explorers CodeLogic for Java 1.5
Nothing can save development time like good documentation.
Understanding the big picture allows developers to go deeper
faster. CodeLogic 1.5 will allow developers to dynamically
generate documentation on the fly. This week Drew Flakman's
going to tell us how this new tool stacks up.
Java 5 – Unleash the Tiger on Your Next Project
Sun has let loose the Tiger. The next version of the Java
platform was just released as Java 5 with many enhancements.
What happened to 3 and 4?
iSpheres Halo 4
Just in case you haven't heard yet, there is a new Three Letter
Acronym in the J2EE development world, BAM. BAM is short for
Business Activity Monitoring, and at the core of BAM is a new
breed of Event Servers, whose sole responsibility is to monitor
business activity in real time.
Review: iTKO LISA
Is development testing driving you crazy? Are you looking for a
simplified answer to the many aspects of testing, J2EE
applications, websites and web services? iTKO's LISA may be the
answer to your sanity. This month Drew takes this all in one
program for a test ride to see if how it performs.
Review: Sun Java Studio Creator Early Access Release
Sun's anticipated release of Java Studio Creator is here at last
and Drew was hard at work the day of release. Find out why J2EE
developers may have a new addition to their toolbox.
JetBrains IntelliJ IDEA 4
Is your IDE pulling it's weight? This month Drew looks at
JetBrains newest offering to see if it's time for a change.
Converting XML to JavaBeans with XMLBeans
Is your company looking for a new XML-to-JavaBeans conversion
tool? The newest development from BEA touts the ability to
handle any XML schema. Hype or fact, you
decide?
Oracle JDeveloper 10g (9.0.5)
Looking to remove the complexity from J2EE development? Oracle
is currently previewing their 10g version of JDeveloper and it
might be what you are looking for.
JProbe Suite 5.0.1
Having performance problems
with your J2SE and J2EE applications? Quest's JProbe arrives on
the scene with a suite of tools to monitor and troubleshoot your
applications.
Macromedia Flex
Finally J2EE developers have a decent rich client development
platform. Well, we almost do. Macromedia's new Flex offering
looks to serve up a native J2EE rich Internet application
development platform that uses the ubiquitous Flash Player as
the rich client.
ESRI MapObjects - Java Edition 2
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) software allows for the
integration of database information and mapping services. This
week we take a look at one of the formeost software developers
of GIS software and there product.
Davisor Offisor 1.5.1
This month we look at Offisor, a handy little tool used to
convert MS Word documents to XML. You might find this tool very
useful.
Canoo ULC 5.1
Canoo Ultra Light Client (ULC) is a new paradigm for developing
network-enabled rich client applications and we're going to take
a look at it.
Jcorporate Expresso
Jcorporate is the mastermind behind Expresso, a Web application
development framework that has a number of plug-in applications.
This month Drew gives us the skinny on this framework that
appears to be utilizing open source to eliminate development
costs, while at the same time offering something valuable and
unique from an open-source project.
Enforce Coding Style with CheckStyle
The world of programming is
tricky and it gets trickier when it comes to employing a
standard, enter CheckStyle! This month Samudra sheds light on
this application and shows us how it helps us define and enforce
a Java coding standard.
Aqris RefactorIT 1.3.2
Refactoring is a crucial step
in any object-oriented development project, especially in
corporate environments where many applications are outsourced or
developed by employees who often come and go. Aqris addresses
this need with there new offering RefactorIT 1.3.2.
Eclipse 3.0 Milestone Build 2
The oft-hailed and well-used
Java Integrated Development Environment (IDE) Eclipse has just
released it's second milestone build of the upcoming 3.0
release. This release promises to be a significant upgrade to
the existing version and many in the Java community are eagerly
awaiting it's pending release. This month Drew will preview the
plans for 3.0 and evaluate what has been completed thus far in
Eclipse.
Instant Messaging & Collaboration Servers
The growing Enterprise
Instant Messaging and Collaborative application server space has
become the vortex of a new standards war. In the midst of this
war, many developers are questioning which of the two competing
technologies to choose, or to wait until there is a winner. In
this review, I discuss the war and also take a look at some
potential interim solutions.
Corda OptiMap 5.0
Imagine a web-oriented mapping tool that shows real-time
database information in a geographical format. Say hello to
OptiMap. Drew Falkman inspects the goods and gives us the low
down.
Enterprise Portals at Non-Enterprise prices (free, that is)
An Enterprise Portal can be a million dollar project. Are there
really open-source solutions? Drew's quest for open-source
portals has some interesting results.
5 Components Worth Buying
One of the key precepts that drove the creation of JavaBeans and Enterprise JavaBeans was to promote code reuse and code exchange of components. This month Drew investigates components that save developers time and money by capitalizing on these precepts.
ObjectAssembler 2.5
Looking to scale up your J2EE developement efforts without emptying your pockets?
ObjectVenture's ObjectAssembler 2.5 may be your answer. Take a look at why this
mid-priced tool is playing with the big dogs.
Java Development Tools You Never Knew Existed
The world of software is ever-growing, and though we all like to stay on top of all the tools available to us, who has the time? Well Drew Falkman took the time to bring you his five favorite tools you didn't know existed.
AccelTree Fulcrum 1.2
If you look at most programs, you will discover that they essentially are comprised of code segments that are very standard in nature. For example, code to validate a data item in a database, or code to insert a record set in a set of tables. Fulcrum is a sophisticated template-based code management system that enables Java developers to maximize code reuse and simplify the programming process.
Macromedia JRun 4
This application server offers not only all of the features you would expect from a J2EE application server, but a host of other features and advantages for both developers and administrators. Read why Drew Falkman says 'JRun 4 is the most exciting release of this product by far'.
Reviews at Other Internet.com Sites
GUI-Based Java Application Development
MCM Software hopes to simplify the development of Web
applications with JEvolution, a graphical,
no-Java-knowledge-required tool that can create Java
applications complete with backend database connectivity.
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