Borland releases JBuilder 9

By Alun Williams

Posted on 7 May 2003 at 12:53

Borland has updated its flagship Java programming system, JBuilder 9. The emphasis is on making JBuilder a heavyweight player in critical, team-based development environments.

Specifically, Borland highlights the integration of JBuilder with a range of application lifecycle management tools, such as for requirements management, modelling, profiling and deployment. 'When other compilers were command line driven, we pushed the IDE. Now everyone has an IDE, we have integration into application lifecycle management,' Michael Faisst, Borland's European Java Product manager told us.

New features in JBuilder 9 include paramatisable Smart Code templates for automating common coding tasks, Web Services Wizards for constructing Enterprise JavaBeans with Web-based front ends, improved Javadoc Insight for documenting code, and the ability to export to Apache Ant, the Open Source Java build tool. In terms of application servers, there's support for automatic deployment using WebLogic 8.1, WebSphere 5.0, Borland Enterprise Server 5.2 and Sybase EAServer 4.2.

Also included with the Enterprise edition of JBuilder is the Optimizeit Suite for fine-tuning the performance of applications. There's also support for the development lifecycle systems such, as StarTeam and the Borland Together Edition for JBuilder. Other third-party offerings are also supported, including Rational Rose for UML-based modelling.

'JBuilder 9 is designed to provide integration across the application development lifecycle, helping to efficiently integrate all aspects of the development work flow,' said George Paolini, general manager of Java solutions at Borland. 'With the release of JBuilder 9, developers now have seamless access to requirements management, analysis and design, software configuration management, quality and performance assurance, and J2EE deployment.'

JBuilder 9 is based on version 1.4.1 of the Java Development Kit, and supports JDK switching for those having to deal with multiple versions of Java.

For those who wish to try programming for smart phones, there is J2ME (Java 2 Micro Edition) support. This is now built-in, instead of being available as a separate download. MIDIlets can be developed against the standard Sun handheld emulator, which is also included.

There are Personal, Developer, Enterprise and WebLogic editions of JBuilder 9. The Developer edition is new and is targeted at 'hard core' programmers who would prefer to live with a simpler interface and lose some IDE functionality, such as the use of Wizards.

Pricing is as follows: the Personal edition is free, the Developer edition costs £660 and the Enterprise edition is £2,300 (which includes the Optimizeit software that retails at £1,050).

You can find more info and a feature matrix at borland.com/jbuilder/.

The release is one of a raft of announcements from Borland. As well as the new JBuilder, Janeva has been unveiled and the release date of C# Builder - Borland's development environment for the Microsoft .Net version of C++ - has been confirmed as this summer.