Borland® JBuilder® 2006 Delivers New Capabilities to Accelerate Agile Development of Java® Applications
Peer-to-peer collaboration capabilities added to award-winning JBuilder IDE, brings "Virtual Peer Programming" to even widely distributed software teams
CUPERTINO, Calif. - Sep 06, 2005 : Borland Software Corporation (NASDAQ NM: BORL), the global leader for Software Delivery Optimization™, today announced the release of JBuilder® 2006 – a significant upgrade of Borland's market-leading Java® integrated development environment (IDE) designed to accelerate development of industrial-strength enterprise Java applications. Borland JBuilder 2006 includes new capabilities designed to help software teams more effectively collaborate in real time, even across geographic boundaries, with new peer-to-peer developer collaboration features and integrated application lifecycle support for requirements management, source code management and unit testing.
In addition, the company introduced a new version of its Optimizeit™ application performance management toolkit, Borland's latest solution for isolating and resolving performance hazards during the development of J2EE® applications.
"Software development has become more complex than ever, as IT organizations are driven to do more with less, platforms and standards multiply, and development teams cross geographies and time zones," said Boz Elloy, senior vice president of products at Borland. "In order to thrive in this new era, developers have to be able to work in unison, as a team, regardless of where they are. JBuilder 2006 enables remote teams to build software with the same feel as if they were in the same room, offering larger and dispersed teams the same levels of productivity previously reserved for smaller, localized teams."
Both JBuilder and Optimizeit are important components of Borland's application lifecycle management (ALM) solution. The new versions being introduced today are tightly integrated with other Borland ALM products including the CaliberRM™ requirements management solution, giving developers integrated tools to increase their own productivity as well as that of the entire software organization.
Accelerating Distributed Java DevelopmentJBuilder 2006 is designed with the unique needs of distributed teams in mind, with new collaboration capabilities to help individuals and teams more effectively work with outsourced, offshore, remote or distributed team members. New peer-to-peer collaboration features enable developers to jointly perform code editing, visual design, and debugging tasks in real-time, whether they are located in the next building or around the world. Additionally, distributed re-factoring and change management capabilities automatically propagate local changes to remote projects and provide automatic notification of changes to requirements.
According to Gartner, "When location-related cultural and organizational differences intervene, collaboration among team members becomes even more integral to ensuring the success of your application development efforts. Application development organizations engaged in distributed development environments should press vendors for toolsets that mitigate the risks of global, collaborative application delivery. IT groups that plan their responses to the challenges raised by this complex issue have a better chance of succeeding in the increasingly competitive environment of software development."1
Agile programming methodologies, which include the Extreme Programming approach, seek to mitigate the risk and impact of change in the development process to the extent software teams can harness change for their customers' competitive advantage. Because they advocate close collaboration between the development team and business experts with frequent face-to-face communication, agile methods have traditionally been relegated to smaller, highly local, self-organizing teams. JBuilder 2006 brings agile capabilities to larger and more distributed development teams by enabling them to utilize pair programming techniques through real-time, peer-to-peer collaboration. Using JBuilder 2006, two or more programmers can work together in unison, collaborate on the same design, algorithm, code or test, address difficult challenges and generate new ideas.
"One of the current projects we're working on involves a client with no central office, and numerous developers spread over a large geographic area," said Kevin Dean, president, Dolphin Data Development Ltd. "New peer-to-peer collaboration tools such as those found in JBuilder 2006 will allow us to share code and development techniques far more readily, while also enabling senior team members to mentor junior developers without having to arrange meetings days in advance."
JBuilder 2006 is also designed to give developers the tools they need to help identify and reduce security hazards throughout the development process. JBuilder includes innovative technology from Borland partner Fortify Software to analyze code and identify security vulnerabilities using best practices and automated code audits. In addition to new collaboration and strengthened security features, JBuilder 2006 is also designed to:
- Reduce Complexity when Adopting New Technology Standards– Out-of-the-box support for Enterprise JavaBeans®, Web Services, XML, and mobile and database application development provide standards-based support for virtually all types of Java development. Teams can also bridge J2EE 1.4 and JDK® 5.0 seamlessly with integrated migration capabilities.
- Simplify Project Management and Integration Efforts– By providing a central environment to coordinate the entire development process, JBuilder 2006 offers a way to simplify management and administration of development tools across the software organization. Its open architecture also helps reduce the need for multiple integration efforts, giving teams the flexibility to integrate with existing software investments.
- Leverage Extensibility– JBuilder 2006 allows developers to leverage thousands of third-party plug-ins as well as create their own customized enhancements. Flexible workflow processes for tasks such as change management or defect tracking can be tailored to maximize productivity without imposing rigid structures. Further, teams can configure IDE personalities to streamline and customize the interface for each project.
As a leader in software development and the original pioneer of the IDE, Borland will continue to leverage and support its IDEs as part of its overall Software Delivery Optimization (SDO™) strategy. With this in mind, the company is incorporating innovative productivity features such as those found in JBuilder 2006, into Core::Developer™, the developer role within the Borland Core Software Delivery Platform (SDP) – providing a path for customers who want to more fully optimize their software development activities.
"Our IDE development is squarely focused on how we can make developers more successful and valuable to the business," said Rob Cheng, director of developer solutions at Borland. "That's why in addition to once again raising the bar with JBuilder 2006 as an IDE, we're incorporating the best of JBuilder into Core::Developer. Customers can evolve their development efforts, and the tools they use, at their own pace based on the specific needs of their organization."
In addition to Core::Developer, work is well underway on the development of a new generation of commercial developer products that will utilize Eclipse as the underlying integration framework. "Peloton," the first of these Eclipse-based products, is expected to be available in the first half of 2006, and will bring JBuilder's trademark usability, advanced collaboration features, ALM integrations and enterprise-class support to Eclipse.
AvailabilityJBuilder 2006 will be available for customer shipments in mid-September, and Optimizeit 2006 is now available. Customers on JBuilder and Optimizeit support and maintenance, or those renewing their agreements, will be entitled to JBuilder 2006 and Optimizeit 2006, respectively, at no extra charge. For more information about JBuilder support and maintenance, go to http://support.borland.com or for more information regarding Borland products, see http://www.borland.com/us/products/index.html.
About BorlandFounded in 1983, Borland Software Corporation (NASDAQ: BORL) is the global leader in platform independent solutions for Software Delivery Optimization. The company provides the software and services that align the people, process, and technology required to maximize the business value of software. To learn more about delivering quality software, on time and within budget, visit http://www.borland.com.
Borland, JBuilder, Software Delivery Optimization, Optimizeit, CaliberRM, SDO, Core::Developer and all other Borland brand and product names are service marks, trademarks or registered trademarks of Borland Software Corporation in the United States and other countries. Java, J2EE, JavaBeans and JDK are registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems in the United states and/or other countries. All other marks are the property of their respective owners.
Safe Harbor StatementThis release contains "forward-looking statements" as defined under the Federal Securities Laws, including the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and is subject to the safe harbors created by such laws. Forward-looking statements may relate to, but are not limited to, timing on the release of JBuilder 2006, the potential benefits to be derived from the release of JBuilder 2006 and Optimizeit 2006 and other products, and the nature of development functionality incorporated into our overall SDO strategy. Such forward-looking statements are based on current expectations that involve a number of uncertainties and risks that may cause actual events or results to differ materially. Factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially include, among others, market acceptance of our products and services including our enterprise software development platform/solution; our ability to successfully deliver on large transactions; the changing nature of the markets in which we operate, including the maturation of the market for IDE products; our ability to establish or enhance strategic alliances; our ability to enhance the scalability and quality of our product line; rapid technological and business change that can adversely affect the demand for Borland products and services; and general economic factors and capital market conditions. These and other risks may be detailed from time to time in Borland periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including, but not limited to, its latest Annual Report on Form 10-K and its latest Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, copies of which may be obtained from www.sec.gov. Borland is under no obligation to (and expressly disclaims any such obligation to) update or alter its forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
1 Gartner Research "Application Development Is More Global Than Ever" by Partha Iyengar. November 17, 2004.