Sun to ship Early Access version of Java tool

Sun Microsystems on April 8 will make available an Early Access release of its visual development environment for Java, called Sun Java Studio Creator, Sun officials said on Monday.

Free IT resource Open Source Business Conference (OSBC) May 22-23, 2007 Sponsored by OSBC Free IT resource Virtualization Insights from Top Experts - Learn how virtualization gets real! Sponsored by Dell

Previously code-named "Project Rave," the product features a complete develop/debug/deploy solution out of the box, according to Sun. It is viewed as Sun's easy-to-use counterpart to the Microsoft Visual Basic programming language. Additionally, Java Studio Creator features JavaServer Faces technology to boost performance and code efficiency. A general release of the product is planned for late June.

Coding with Java Studio Creator is intended to be visual and efficient. "It simplifies Java development," said Jim Inscore, Sun group marketing manager of corporate development tools. "It allows you to do a lot of Java development without code. It allows you to focus on business development rather than doing plumbing."

The product is based on the NetBeans open source platform, specifically Version 3.6 of NetBeans. Version 3.6 adds stronger support for JavaServer Pages syntax in the code editor, improved code completion, and an enhanced debugger.

Also included in Java Studio Creator are:

Java Studio Creator also supports Java Database Connectivity RowSet technology to simplify and streamline database access. Also supported are Java XML Pack software and J2EE 1.3 and 1.4 Web container technology.

The Early Access release is to be available at www.sun.com/jscreator. Some 10,000 developers already have signed up for the Early Access version, according to Sun.