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Enterprise Java

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Java tools reign supreme

<em>JavaWorld</em> celebrates the leading Java tools

By Jennifer Orr, JavaWorld.com, 06/09/03

Page 4 of 7

"J2ME WTK is the mostly widely used tool for MIDP development," says ECA judge Yuan. "It can be used standalone or integrated into IDEs. It even integrates into Ant. Many vendor-specific MIDP development kits are modeled after J2ME WTK."

The tookit is also integrated and bundled with many J2ME IDE environments, including Sun ONE Studio Mobile Edition, Borland's JBuilder, and Metrowerks CodeWarrior Wireless Studio. "It is also promoted by Oracle's and IBM's developer sites as a tool to learn how to develop MIDP applications," says James Allen, senior product marketing manager of J2ME developer tools in Sun's J2ME platform marketing group. "So, it's got a lot of popularity in the wireless developer community."

"Sun continues to innovate in the wireless space with the release of the J2ME Wireless Toolkit supporting the MIDP 2.0 specification," says ECA judge Humphrey Sheil, technical architect at Cedar Enterprise Solutions. "Tool support is crucial to any technology, and wireless is no exception. Strong toolsets help foster early adoption of a technology, and with no clear winner yet in the wireless space, Java needs every single edge it can get."

Finalists:

• IBM WebSphere Studio Device Developer 5.0, IBM
• Sun ONE Studio 4 Update 1 Mobile Edition, Sun Microsystems

Best Java-XML Tool: Xerces2 Java Parser 2.4, the Apache XML Project

The Xerces2 Java Parser is another repeat winner in this year's awards; the open source XML parser also was selected as Best Java-XML Tool in JavaWorld's 2002 Editors' Choice Awards. Ted Leung, principal at Sauria Associates and an Apache developer, attributes Xerces2's continued success to its open source status and broad standards support. "Xerces2 is the only Java XML parser with support for XML Schema, grammar caching, and DOM [Document Object Model] Level 3 support," he says.

Some of our judges consider Xerces a standard in itself: "Xerces is the standard by which all other XML parsers are measured," says Erik Swenson, consultant and founder of Open Source Software Solutions.

And ECA judge Kang comments, "Xerces is the de facto standard when it comes to Java-based XML development."

Additional standard support was added to version 2.4: XML 1.1, DOM Level 3 load/save, and fixes based on the XML Schema errata.

"Xerces gets the Number One spot," says ECA judge Jonathan Simon, developer and product manager at Liquidnet Holdings. "Basically, cool things to do with XML and Java may come and go, but low-level access to the XML code in an object structure is always necessary."

Finalists:

• JAXB (Java Architecture for XML Binding), Sun Microsystems
• Xalan-Java 2.5, The Apache XML Project

Best Java Installation Tool: Java Web Start 1.2, Sun Microsystems

Java Web Start allows users to launch applications with the click of a button. "You can download and launch applications, such as a complete spreadsheet program or an Internet chat client, without going through complicated installation procedures," says Blake Connell, group product marketing manager for Java desktop solutions marketing at Sun. "Java Web Start includes the security features of the Java 2 Platform, so the integrity of your data and files is never compromised. In addition, Java Web Start enables you to use the latest Java technology—with any browser."

 

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