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WebGain IDE fulfills your top-level Java development needs

The InfoWorld Test Center reviews WebGain Standard Edition's pros and cons

By Tom Yager, InfoWorld, 09/29/00

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When you embark on a new enterprise development project, it's easy to convince yourself that the hard part is over once you've decided to go with Java. But the task of assembling the right blend of Java development tools, documentation, and runtime software can add weeks to your development schedule. And if you opt to use Sun's enterprise Java services -- J2EE -- it's even harder to evaluate which tools are best suited to your purposes.

TEXTBOX:

TEXTBOX_HEAD: The Bottom Line

WebGain Studio

Business Case
WebGain has combined Visual Café with UML and HTML tools to create its studio bundle. The package is a worthwhile kit for designers and senior coders, but most developers will need only Visual Café.

Technology Case
The Visual Café Java IDE sports updated JIT and native-code compilers for Java 2. The StructureBuilder modeling tool integrates well with Visual Café and is ideal for smaller designs.

Pros

  • First-rate Java development environment
  • Object-oriented modeling tool for generating Java code
  • Integrated support for EJB and UML


Cons

  • Bundled BEA J2EE server is limited to one network connection
  • Suite's tools and documentation do not cover enough J2EE facilities


Cost
,995 for Standard Edition; ,995 for Professional Edition

Platforms
Windows 98, Windows NT/2000

WebGain, Cupertino, Calif.; (888)822-3209

:END_TEXTBOX

That's where WebGain enters the picture. The company, an independent firm funded by BEA Systems (makers of the WebLogic J2EE server), is billing its new WebGain Studio package as a one-stop shop for J2EE development projects. Offered in Standard and Professional Editions, WebGain Studio attempts to pack everything an enterprise Java developer needs into one box.

We reviewed the Standard Edition, which combines the Visual Café 4 Java IDE, an object-oriented modeling tool, a Web design environment, and a single-user copy of BEA's WebLogic server. (The Professional Edition adds an object relational database tool.)

Granted, in-the-trenches Java developers won't need anything more than Visual Café -- most programmers spend their time simply banging out code based on a senior person's design, and that takes place entirely in the IDE. But project leaders, architects, and top-level coders could find WebGain Studio to be worth its premium price.

The heart of the matter

That said, Visual Café 4 Enterprise Edition is clearly the heart of WebGain Studio. This is the first version of Visual Café to appear since WebGain bought the popular Java IDE from Symantec, and Java developers have been waiting impatiently for this release. They won't be disappointed: WebGain wisely kept Visual Café on course, continuing Symantec's tradition of combining top-shelf editing, code-management, and debugging capabilities with top-notch performance.

The new release updates Visual Café for the latest Java 2 compilers and JVMs. Symantec's renowned JIT and native Java compilers have also been revamped to support Java 2 compilers and JVMs.

But Visual Café's appeal is not limited to Java veterans. Experienced Windows developers accustomed to Visual Basic, Delphi, or Visual C++ will feel right at home here. The user interface blends Java with native Windows elements to create an unusually responsive Java development environment.


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

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