The Next Wave

Wednesday November 09, 2005

If all you have as a hammer ...

One of the questions I (and others) get hit a lot with is "why 3 Java tools?" (they are speaking specifically about Netbeans, Java Studio Enterprise and Java Studio Creator). It's perhaps worse now that all three are Free.

The answer is partly historical, and part just about focus and alignment. The tools are designed, created and delivered for developers who need to solve specific problems for (in many cases) specific runtime platforms. Take Netbeans for example. Netbeans is the open source IDE (upon which all of our other tools are built) which is aligned very tightly with the standard Java platform APIs and runtimes (specifically Java SE and Java EE). It is there for experienced developers who need to have an IDE which is tightly bound to the Java platform and RIs (including the latest and greatest implementations approved by the JCP).

Java Studio Enterprise on the other hand is tightly aligned with the Sun Java Enterprise System stack and the needs of large enterprise applications who are building composite applications leveraging a Service Oriented Architecture (SOA).

Java Studio Creator is all about new developers to Java or domain experts ("corporate developers") who need to build rich web applications using JSF and consuming services and data which exist on their network.

(Yes ... and if you look deeper into our tools portfolio, you'll notice that the Mobility tools are aligned with the J2ME platform and Sun Studio with the needs of native developers ... it actually does make sense)

The remaining question is will they stay that way ... probably not. The lines between the differing application platforms are becoming blurred (this is a normal tendency in our industry) as the need to leverage technology in what were separate areas becomes commonplace. For example, you may want to add mobile access to your enterprise application (so you want Mobility tools in your Java Studio Enterprise product) ... or you want rapid web application design in your Netbeans or Enterprise tools products. By the same token, just smashing them all together doesn't make sense either ... the result would be likely a schizophrenic tool with a convoluted or confusing workflow, UI or development paradigm. So will this change ... yes, but incrementally and with some forethought. It's already happening (look at the Developer Collaboration tools which used to be the domain of Studio Enterprise ... they now exist in Netbeans as well).

So look for more integration as we move forward, but at least now you know that you can easily get one or all of the tools (for free) that you need for the specific task at hand (the old adage about "if all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail" comes to mind ... that isn't a good thing). You frequently need the right tool for the job and in the Sun and Netbeans portfolio, the right tools exist today for your use.

Posted by brewin Nov 09 2005, 09:35:56 AM PST Permalink