Borland reworks Java tools

Borland Software, which leads the market for Java development tools, on Monday announced a new version of its toolset.

The company said JBuilder 8, the new release of its Java tools, includes support for Jakarta Struts, which is an open-source Web development framework. It also offers better tools for testing Enterprise Java Beans applications, as well as support for new Web services standards and the Java 2 Enterprise Edition 1.4 specification.

Borland said the new release also is intended to make code management and debugging easier through links to tools such as Borland's TeamSource, Rational's ClearCase and the Concurrent Versioning System, or CVS. JBuilder 8 can now also debug non-Java code, such as Oracle's OracleJSP code.

The software maker also announced Optimizeit Suite 5, an updated release of its Java development performance-management tools. The new version includes automatic memory leak detection, which lets developers more quickly solve code performance problems, Borland said.

Borland ranks first among Java tool makers with 18.1 percent of the market, according to researcher Evans Data. IBM ranks second with 14.4 percent. The core Java software developers kit and text editor available from Sun Microsystems is ranked third with 14.2 percent.

As previously reported Borland is preparing to go head-to-head with Microsoft next year with new programming tools that allow developers to build software for Microsoft's Windows operating system and its overarching .Net software plans.

Borland's suite of tools, code-named Galileo, will be positioned to compete against Microsoft's popular Visual Studio.Net tool suite.

Last week, Borland purchased TogetherSoft, a maker of development tools, in a deal valued at $185 million. The deal is intended to bolster Borland's programming tools lineup and increase its position in the emerging market for modeling and design programs, which let programmers build graphical representations of software.