THE BOTTOM LINE
Imperial Software Visaj Workshop, beta
Summary: This integrated Java development environment nicely combines Imperial's Visaj interface building tools with Sun's Java Workshop 3.0.
Business Case: Visaj Workshop is a good match for sites that want to reduce development tool costs by using a single product that crosses platform boundaries. Included functionality helps streamline development efforts.
Cost: $595 includes 30-day installation support
Pros:
+ Well-planned development interface
+ Graphical tools that produce clean code
+ Java 2 support
+ Includes tool support for migrating Motif interfaces to Java
Cons:
- Some beta bugs
- Error-prone on some platforms with certain Java Development Kit (JDK) versions
Platforms: Any platform that supports JDK 1.1 and later (including Solaris, Windows, Linux, and SGI)
Ship date: Fall 1999
Imperial Software Technology, Mountain View, Calif.; (650) 919-0200; www.ist-inc.com
|
By Maggie Biggs, InfoWorld Test Center
Organizations that need Java-development tool support on multiple platforms are often forced to buy several different tools and provide training on each product. Imperial Software's beta version of Visaj Workshop rises to meet the cross-platform development challenge while helping to reduce costs.
Visaj Workshop marries Imperial Software's Visaj interface construction set with Sun's Java Workshop 3.0 development tools. Both Visaj and Java Workshop are written in Java so the same tools are available to developers whether they are building on Solaris, Windows, SGI, or Linux.
Like IBM's VisualAge for Java preview, Visaj Workshop sports support for Java 2. However, Visaj has successfully blended this support into a single product while IBM is still working on its Java 2 integration. Linux developers stand to gain additional Java tool choices with the support found in Imperial's Visaj Workshop and IBM's VisualAge for Java, when released.
Developers will find Visaj Workshop's tools quite useful. In particular, the Visual Application Builder nicely supports graphical development and includes a customizable component palette.
I especially liked being able to graphically connect components and define events. After my components were connected, Visaj Workshop invoked the Event Binding Wizard.
This version of Visaj Workshop includes tools, such as Advanced Layout Editors, that let developers visually manipulate components, such as Swing, when more complex interface layouts are needed.
The company also provides a companion product, X-Designer, that allows Unix developers who migrate Motif interfaces to Java to use Visaj Workshop to maintain the application after migration.
As for bugs, I had significant difficulty developing applications on Solaris using Java Development Kit (JDK) 1.1.3. Imperial recommends using JDK 1.1.4 or later for Solaris development.
Although this version of Visaj Workshop still needs a bit of polishing, the product holds the promise of reducing development tool purchases and controlling developer training costs and project time lines.
Maggie Biggs (maggie_biggs@infoworld.com) is a senior analyst for InfoWorld.
|
