BEA Systems will lock down the code for Workshop 10.1 this Friday in preparation for the Java development tool's release next month.

"It leaves the shop Friday," said Bill Roth, the vice president of BEA's Workshop Division. "It's done."

Workshop 10.1 is slated for release during the week after July 4, most likely hitting the Web July 12, he said.

Announced in May, Workshop 10.1 aims to give developers a tool to develop Java applications using both commercial and open-source frameworks. The new tool combines Workshop for WebLogic with Workshop Studio, formerly called Nitrox, an Eclipse-based tool BEA acquired through its purchase of middleware company M7 in 2005.

"It used to be that we literally had two separate code bases. The Studio stuff was different from the main Workshop line," Roth said. Bringing these tools together in a "blended" product will allow developers to more easily mix and match commercial and open-source frameworks when building their applications, he said.

Workshop 10.1 is one of several products that BEA will ship in July. AquaLogic Pages, AquaLogic Ensemble, and AquaLogic Pathways, a set of tools to create collaborative applications with features such as tagging, wikis, and RSS feeds, are set to ship this month.

BEA's WebLogic Server Virtual Edition, a tool that allows Java applications to run on a virtualization server without an operating system, is also scheduled to ship this month.