JBuilder moves to keep up with Java

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By Alun Williams

Posted on 7 Nov 2002 at 12:56

JBuilder 8 is the latest update to Borland's venerable Java development system.

This new release builds on the most up-to-date JDK (Java Development Kit) 1.4 technology from Sun Microsystems. This is the core set of tools that underpins Java development environments produced by third parties such as Borland.

Particular features in JBuilder 8 include support for 'hot swap' debugging, a new Cactus system for testing back-end functionality and improved management of project builds.

'Hot swap' debugging enables programmers to make and test changes on the fly. This avoids having to constantly stop and start debugging sessions.

Also new is Cactus. While previous versions of JBuilder had JUnit for managing testing, this was oriented to 'front end', graphical interface programs. Borland has now added Cactus for managing the complex calculation and database queries, for example, that may be involved in 'back-end' processing.

The management of project builds - collecting software together for particular compilations, eg customer releases, site-specific tests, etc - is helped by the incorporation of Apache's Ant tool. This helps manage complex build processes by using scripts.

John Harrison, a Senior Technology Consultant at Borland, told us that 'as Java has grown up, JBuilder has moved to keep supporting it.' This means there is increased support for large scale, group-based development. He pointed out that JBuilder is a J2EE (Java 2 Enterprise Edition) conformant system - it is officially recognised by Sun as supporting specific enterprise-scale Java technologies.

Device-level development is also possible - for example, coding for the latest Nokia phones - through support for J2ME (Java 2 Micro Edition).

Harrison also told us that JDK 1.4 was released (earlier this year) just before the due date of JBuilder 7. Borland took the decision to delay building on the now-stable JDK 1.4 technology until this release of JBuilder.

Being 100 per cent pure Java, JBuilder runs on any platform that supports a Java environment. This includes Windows (XP, 2000, etc), Linux and Solaris. In the case of Windows, however, you do have to download a Windows-specific JDK from Sun.

You can find more info on JBuilder 7 on the Borland Web site. The software should be on high street before the end of November.

Pricing for JBuilder 8 Enterprise (New User) starts from £2,149. Upgrades from any JBuilder Professional or Enterprise start from £1,119.

Borland has also announced Optimizeit Suite 5 for managing and optimising the performance of Java applications. This features an Automatic Memory Leak Detector for quickly identifying memory problems.