Oracle Updates JDeveloper IDE

Oracle9i JDeveloper 9.0.3 is available for free download and evaluation on the Oracle Technology Network at otn.oracle.com, said John Magee, vice president of Oracle9i marketing.

Pricing for the product is $995 per developer, significantly lower than comparable enterprise Java toolsets from IBM or Borland, said Magee.

The enterprise version of Borland's JBuilder IDE costs $2,999, while the latest version of IBM's WebSphere Studio Application Developer is $3,400, with an enterprise version priced at $7,500.

One of the major updates to the tool is the MyJDeveloper Extensions Manager, which gives developers the ability to personalize the IDE depending on what tools or frameworks they want to use, Magee said.

Oracle also has added myriad support for Web services and other industry standards for Java development, he said.

Jdeveloper 9.0.3 supports J2EE 1.3, the latest version of the J2EE spec. Oracle also has added visual modeling using UML to support the latest Enterprise JavaBeans (EJB) spec in J2EE, EJB 2.0, and for visually creating Web services and the interactions between Web services, Magee said.

In addition, the new IDE is interoperable with Web services built in the Microsoft .Net environment, bridging the gap between Java and Microsoft technologies, Magee said.

"A developer working with JDeveloper can browse for a Web service, [and find it in .Net, [bringing interoperability between the Java world and the .NET world," he said.

Oracle also has added support for open-source tools and frameworks Java developers currently use to its new IDE. Now, developers can use Apache Ant, Jakarta Struts, JUnit and CVS directly from the Oracle9i JDeveloper IDE, Magee said.