Borland International inc. last week elaborated on its Internet tools strategy, providing a sneak peek at its upcoming Latte development environment for Java, as well as a new Internet server.
The Nexus Internet server, unveiled at last week's Software Development 96 West conference in San Francisco, anchors the company's multitier Internet development scheme. It is slated to enter beta testing later this year. Nexus will support Java database access and Internet connectivity; will include a repository for business rules, SQL code, and shared code; and will include such services as application partitioning, validation, and life-cycle code management.
Latte, slated for release this fall, is the Scotts Valley, Calif.- based vendor's Delphi-like rapid application development package for Java, sporting Delphi's interface structure and sharing its multitier application development capabilities. Latte lets developers easily create components that can be assigned icons and added to an application's tool palettes, said Jack Oswald, Borland's director of Internet products.
Borland also demonstrated its AppAccelerator just-in-time compiler for Java, which is now available as part of the Borland C++ toolkit. Borland is pushing the technology for embedded applications and is seeking licensees, Oswald said. The first release of Latte is being written in Delphi and will generate Java code.
"We are implementing a component model for Java and a class library and are wrapping those inside a Windows-specific development environment, which is written in Delphi," Oswald said. "Later, we will revise it entirely in Java."
That Java rewrite is expected in 1997. The Java version of Latte will support multiplatform and group development, Oswald noted.
"One advantage of having it entirely in Java is it allows you to run and test it with a browser," said John Mann, an analyst with Yankee Group, in Boston. "SunSoft is pushing the browser metaphor with its Java WorkShop."