Wizard API updated!
Tim Boudreau has released a new version of the Swing Wizard library (version 0.997) that fixes the WizardException bug reported in JavaWorld's recent Open Source Java Project profile. The article's examples have been reworked to test out the new, improved WizardException. Thanks, Tim, for this helpful fix!
Open Source Java Projects: The Wizard API

Newsletter sign-up

Sign up for our technology specific newsletters.

Enterprise Java
View all newsletters
Email Address:
JavaWorld.com > Java Enterprise Edition >

We test the top 6 Java visual IDEs

The latest pack of Java tools delivers full JDK 1.1 support, raises the bar on performance and features

By Carl Dichter, JavaWorld.com, 04/01/98

As an IDC research analyst recently noted, 1997 was "the year of the [Java] tool." Indeed, in the June 1997 issue of JavaWorld, we offered the first comprehensive comparative review of the best JDK 1.0 tools (Asymetrix SuperCede 1.0, Microsoft Visual J++ 1.1, Sun Java WorkShop 1.0, Symantec Visual Café 1.0, and Visix Vibe). Since then, Java tools have matured, and now many provide full support of JDK 1.1 features. To help our readers evaluate this latest generation of visual integrated development environments (IDEs), JavaWorld in this issue compares the professional versions of the top six visual development tools for JDK 1.1:

  • Borland JBuilder 1.0 Professional
  • Cosmo Software Cosmo Code 2.5
  • IBM VisualAge for Java 1.0 Professional
  • Sun Java WorkShop 2.0
  • SuperCede Inc., SuperCede 2.0 Professional
  • Symantec Visual Café 2.1


Note that three of these six tools -- Borland JBuilder, IBM VisualAge for Java, and Cosmo Code -- are new (or were not released in time to be included in our last comparative review). The other three tools have been upgraded since our last review to include JDK 1.1 support and various enhancements.

The evolution of Java visual IDEs over the past nine months has been astounding. Last year, most Java tools wouldn't stand up against the capabilities of even the early versions of Borland C++. Fortunately, this new group of tools is powerful and friendly.

Review criteria

In this review, JavaWorld looked at the major Java JDK 1.1 tools that tout a visual integrated development environment. A great many Java tools have been released or improved in the past few months. We can't review every one of these, but we try to describe them all (as well as all sorts of other Java developer products) in JavaWorld's comprehensive Developer Tools Guide. (If the Tools Guide is missing your favorite tool, let us know.)

The reviewed tools are quite powerful now, and many are relatively inexpensive and/or provide free trial versions, so there are plenty of alternatives if you don't have much money to spend on tools. For example:

  • Parts for Java from ObjectShare has a free 30 day trial
  • The beta version of SNiFF+J Professional is available for free download from TakeFive Software
  • Super Mojo from Penumbra Software is available for an introductory price of 9.95


(See the Resources section for URLs.)

On one hand, only recently have some tools become JDK 1.1-savvy. On the other hand, the list of visual Java development environments is a long one; choosing the top candidates for this review was no easy task. Based on input from JavaWorld reader surveys, data from research companies, and the experience of the reviewer, we established a set of criteria. To be chosen for inclusion in this review, a given tool had to:

  • Be fully released (not in beta)
  • Provide support for visual programming, at least to the point of placing objects without programming
  • Provide good support for JDK 1.1, including the ability to create and consume beans
  • Claim a substantial marketshare among similar Java tools
  • Offer a "professional" edition or equivalent. (Products that are marketed primarily as "enterprise," "database," or "multi-tier" development environments, such as Sybase PowerJ Enterprise, inherently warrant a broader set of evaluation criteria, and thus were not compared to the professional tools in this review)


Of these criteria, the most difficult one to quantify is "substantial marketshare." What makes this so difficult is that beyond the top three leaders (VisualJ++, Café and Java WorkShop) the market analysts' opinions greatly differ. Using a variety of sources including JavaWorld's own reader surveys, we had to make our best guess.

Who didn't make the cut

We excluded Microsoft Visual J++ from this review because its new version (renumbered 6.0 to be in sync with the version numbers of other Microsoft development tools, such as Visual C++) wasn't yet released. (Just before our publication deadline, Microsoft did release a version 6.0 beta. But even if the post-beta release was currently shipping, it may not have met the criteria for this particular review.) For more information on Visual J++ 6.0, see "Microsoft takes wraps off Visual J++ 6.0: Software giant creates thicker ties between Java and Windows with WFCs" in this issue of JavaWorld. (And be sure to check out the extensive collection of hand-picked resources accompanying the VJ++ article!)

The current shipping version (1.1) of Visual J++ is not reviewed here because it hasn't changed substantially since we reviewed it last June. (Since then, Microsoft has added its Software Development Kit (SDK) for Java 2.0, which provides most JDK 1.1 support, but Visual J++ 1.1 doesn't fully support beans, and its resource editor supports only a subset of visual objects.)

We did not look at Visix Vibe this time because the JDK 1.1 version wasn't ready yet. Visix also is working on a JDK 1.2 version. Visix still will offer VFC, as these provide cross-platform support, high functionality and high performance (because the VFC are compiled to native code).

We excluded Metrowerks Code Warrior Professional because its support of the visual metaphor and JDK 1.1 is very weak. Its visual tool (Constructor) is not fully integrated in the IDE; it cannot generate all of the code to instantiate controls on the screen; and it does not have tools for bean creation.

Enterprise-level tools, which are made for multi-tier development, require a whole different set of criteria. If evaluating an enterprise-level tool, we would look at its support for working with databases, performing RMI (remote method invocation), and accessing legacy systems. We'd also expect tools of this level to have floating licenses and offer training and help-line support. For this reason, the enterprise version of tools and enterprise-specific tools like Sybase PowerJ are not reviewed. We hope to compare enterprise tools in a future review.

Testbed systems

Each tool was tried on two different machines, a Pentium II 266-megahertz PC (with 64 megabytes of RAM, a 5.2-gigabyte disk drive, and 20-inch monitor) and a Pentium 133-megahertz PC (with 32 megabytes of RAM, a 4.3-gigabyte disk, and a 17-inch monitor), each running Windows 95 OSR2 (OS Release 2). We created projects under each tool and evaluated them against a list of major criteria including the features which enabled us to rapidly create projects and create and reuse beans.

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 |  Next >
Resources