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Developers get a shield from Java complexity

Despite shortcomings in editing features, M7's graphical development tools can expand Java's reach

By Maggie Biggs, InfoWorld, 06/06/03

Everyone knows manipulating Java can be a tricky proposition. To sidestep Java's inherent complexity, more products are using graphical assembly of applications. M7's Application Assembly Suite 3.0 is one such solution: to visually wire and deploy applications, it provides repository-based access to persistent business objects and a graphical environment and tools.

Unlike Java IDEs, M7 produces Java applications without necessarily requiring a developer to write any code, an especially handy feature for more junior developers. On the other hand, Java IDEs offer full control over application creation, including performance tuning and integration with other component frameworks. M7 does take this into account, and Application Assembly Suite 3.0 can integrate with several IDEs, including Eclipse and Borland's JBuilder.

BEA's WebLogic Workshop is M7's nearest application-assembly rival, and the most recent M7 offering has a few benefits over BEA. For one, WebLogic Workshop only provides support for the WebLogic application server, whereas M7 supports other application servers, such as IBM's WebSphere and JBoss Group's self-named server.

For BEA shops, however, WebLogic Workshop is still the best bet. Its editor offers more features than M7's editor does at present, and the BEA assembly solution allows developers to create Web services, whereas M7 only allows externally created Web services to be added to its repository for use in applications. M7 may be good at shielding junior developers from Java's complexity, but it's missing the functionality needed to give experienced Java programmers an edge.

Wiring applications

The M7 solution has five pieces, an object repository, a server component for application server integration, a personalization server, a workflow server, and the M7 Studio graphical environment for wiring applications.

I found setup to be mostly a straightforward affair. The Java-based installer worked flawlessly in setting up the M7 server-side components on Solaris, Linux, and Windows.

Turning my attention to the M7 Studio install, I noted that M7's graphical tools are only supported on the Windows platform. Other Java tools, such as IBM's WebSphere Studio, offer support for a broader number of platforms, including Linux. M7 requires J2SE (Java 2 Platform, Standard Edition) 1.4 if developers plan to include externally created Web services in M7-generated applications; if you're not including Web services, J2SE 1.3 can be used.

When it came to installing the server components, I was able to select one of the supported application servers (WebLogic, WebSphere, JBoss) for application deployment. The installation went fine, but I ran into some difficulties as I began working with the Repository Manager interface.

Initially, I chose to integrate M7 with IBM's WebSphere 4.0.4, which I had on the same server. However, when I tried to start the WebSphere server from M7's Repository Manager, the startup failed even though I was able to start the WebSphere server successfully outside the M7 environment.

For more enterprise computing news, visit InfoWorld. Story copyright InfoWorld Media Group, Inc.

 

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