PDC: IBM Tries To Out-Yukon Yukon With DB2 Tools

The company will show off tools, including some technologies IBM acquired with Rational Software, to ease Windows .Net development, according to a statement. The timing is no accident. On Monday, Microsoft will kick off its big Professional Developers Conference in Los Angeles, where next-generation SQL Server, aka Yukon, will be highlighted, along with the star of the show, a Longhorn preview.

New DB2 features, code-named Stinger, promise to let developers use either the Microsoft Visual Studio. Net toolset or Rational XDE Developer to design databases and database applications. Developers can also use their existing visual Basic .Net and C# expertise to write client- and DB2 server-side application logic, according to IBM. With these additions, DB2 can host Microsoft's Common Language Runtime (CLR), meaning programmers can stick with their languages of choice in writing database applications.

The tools can be downloaded as of Monday from IBM's developerworks site, the company said. Over time the functionality will be encompassed in DB2 itself, although IBM did not provide a timeframe.

IBM bought Rational earlier this year, in a move that was seen as a competitive parry to Microsoft. Rational offered tools that bridge the J2EE worldview IBM espouses and the Microsoft-centric .Net world, and promised continued post-acquisition support for both technology sets.

Although these DB2 capabilities were developed in partnership with Microsoft through the Visual Studio Industry Partner (VSIP) program, they are clearly meant to pre-empt a publicity push for Microsoft's next-generation database, code-named Yukon. That promised next version of SQL Server is due late next year and promises CLR support.

At Microsoft PDC this week, attendees with get beta or "PDC bits" of Yukon, along with early code for Whidbey the next version of Visual Studio, and even a "technical preview" of Longhorn, the next version of Windows, which is not due till 2005 or later. A Yukon "private" beta has been available to select testers since July. See story.

IBM's latest DB2 developer thrust is part-and-parcel of the company's attempt to woo ISV and integration partners for its mid-market effort.

For details on Microsoft's upcoming channel program changes, see story.