Java Tools Community formed

Eleven software companies, led by Sun Microsystems and BEA Systems, on Tuesday unveiled the Java Tools Community (JTC), which is intended to promote interoperability of Java-based tools.

Absent from the mix, however, are major Java tools vendors IBM and Borland. A Borland official said the company participated in formation but thought it was too early to announce the organization.

Featuring members of the Java Community Process (JCP), the JTC is touting the concept of  "toolability," which is being defined as a measurement of how easy it is to build tools around a particular standard or technology. Developers through the work of the JTC will be able to more easily use Java technology to build Java applications, thus increasing the rate of Java adoption, according to JTC.

"Really, if you look at the story of Java that's been going on so far, one of the struggles that developers have is really having a toolset that keeps up with the innovation that’s been going on in Java," said Rich Main, director of Java Development Environments at SAS, also a JTC member.

The JTC will work to make standard Java technology APIs friendlier for tool development and will promote adoption and advancement of Java Specification Requests. JSR 198, pertaining to a standard for plug-ins to Java IDEs, is one technology proposal that will be reviewed by the JTC. The organization will seek to resolve the issue of proprietary techniques hindering use of tools.

Initially, the JTC will begin deliberations in an online community fashion, but formal meetings also may be scheduled.

"What's been missing is a forum for tool community members to get together to talk about all the JRS' that go on," said Sun's Joe Keller, vice president of marketing for Java, Web services, and tools.

The JTC will seek to boost communications across the "design-time" community, allowing tools vendors, customers, and developers to access information and provide input when building or extending design-time standards via the JCP.

As the JTC proceeds, there will be discussions of product deliverables based on the organization's work, said Dave Cotter, director of developer marketing at BEA.

Other founding vendors include Compuware, Embarcadero Technologies, Iopsis Software, JetBrains, Oracle, and SAP.

JTC members stressed the organization would complement the work of the Eclipse open source Java tools initiative, which has been led by IBM, rather than boost any fragmentation. Organizations such as SAP participate in both the JTC and Eclipse, JTC members noted.

Keller stressed that the JTC would serve to unify the Java community.

"I think it unifies the Java community in ways that haven't been possible without an organization like this," he said. Efforts by Java vendors to attract developers from the lucrative Microsoft Visual Studio development base also would benefit from the JTC, according to Keller.

Eclipse and JTC serve different purposes, JTC members stressed. While JTC is focused on Java standards, Eclipse is about building an open source toolset, Keller said. Sun last month declined an invitation to join Eclipse, saying the company was not offered "an equitable share in mutual development."