We"re always on the lookout for tools that make building, testing, and maintaining Web apps and services easier for developers, and we found no shortage of those in 2004. Among the key trends we"ve been tracking in reviews are all the wonderful things being done with source code analysis -- from identifying security vulnerabilities during the development process to automating unit tests -- and the efforts on the part of tools vendors such as DreamFactory Software Inc., Macromedia Inc., and Nexaweb Technologies Inc. to build front ends to Web applications that are as friendly and functional as traditional rich clients. Whether you do it with Flash or Java or XML and Web services, we don"t much care; just get us beyond the Web browser.
Another class of solutions we"re eyeing closely: BRMS (business rules management systems). A BRMS gives business analysts and developers a shared language for expressing application logic, helping to make business applications more flexible and easier to change when market conditions dictate. So far, only Fair Isaac and ILOG have showed us true enterprise solutions for Java applications. We"re looking forward to seeing more in this space, including these vendors" new .Net offerings, in the coming months.
Developer tools
Acucorp Extend 6.1
Acucorp Inc.
Good. 6.0
Cost: AcuCobol-GT development, US$1,575; run-time, $945 for first user, $105 for each additional user; AcuBench, $1,575; Transoft Component Adapter Technology, starts at $1,600 for five users
Bottom line: Although good for distributing Cobol applications across a variety of platforms, Extend would benefit from stronger integration of its IDE with component connection architecture.
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Agitar Agitator 1.5
Agitar Software Inc.
Excellent. 8.7
Cost: 50-person deployment, $150,000; 100-person deployment, $225,000; prices are estimates because deployments are often customized
Bottom line: Agitator is a pricey development adjunct, but its capabilities are extensive and worth the investment. If your organization is doing serious Java work, Agitator makes the building of unit tests almost enjoyable. And that"s saying a lot.
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Empirix e-Test suite 7.0
Empirix Inc.
Very Good. 8.0
Cost: As tested (50 virtual users), $20,000
Bottom line: This easy-to-use, preproduction testing tool leverages its visual script modeling capability to good effect. Lack of support for popular midtier architectures, coupled with limited script customization features, restricts its usefulness to Web-based applications and their derivatives.
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Fair Isaac Blaze Advisor 5.1
Fair Isaac Corp.
Very Good. 8.2
Cost: Starts at $20,000 per developer seat; $40,000 per deployment CPU; volume discounts available
Bottom line: Well-suited to developing enterprise-class business rule projects, Blaze Advisor is the right choice if you have many types of users and developers, if you want to decrease development time across a large enterprise, and if standard performance is adequate for your needs.
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IBM Rational ClearCase Change Management Solution, Version 6.0
IBM Corp.
Excellent. 8.9
Cost: 10-user floating license, $65,950
Bottom line: ClearCase stands out because of its easy setup and tight development tool integration. Broad platform support, process and build automation, version control, role-based support, and useful reporting provide a solid enterprise SCM solution.
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Logic Explorers CodeLogic 2.0
Logic Explorers Inc.
Very Good. 8.4
Cost: Single-user license, starts at $295
Bottom line: CodeLogic is a no-nonsense, post hoc diagramming tool that allows developers to create rigorous documentation quickly and accurately. It integrates well with IDEs, and its variable backtracking is a clever debugging aid. But it doesn"t allow annotated graphs, and the jump-to feature doesn"t allow jumping back.
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LogicLibrary BugScan
LogicLibrary Inc.
Very Good. 8.1
Cost: Appliance and software, plus one year service, $19,500; yearly maintenance fee after first year, $3,900
Bottom line: Purchased this year from HBGary, LogicLibrary"s BugScan is fast, the data is useful for busy programmers who need to quickly double-check code security, and you just can"t beat the easy installation. The price tag, however, will give you a nosebleed, and the output is Spartan.
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Mainsoft Visual MainWin for J2EE, Version 1.0.1
Mainsoft Corp.
Excellent. 9.1
Cost: $5,000 per developer
Bottom line: Visual MainWin combines the best of two worlds: Java"s run-anywhere capability and the smooth application development of the Visual Studio .Net IDE. If you want to move ASP.Net applications to places you never thought they could go, this is the tool for you.
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Serena Software Merant Professional 8
Serena Software Inc.
Excellent. 8.7
Cost: Named user license, $1,399, concurrent user, $4,899; Build Enterprise Edition adds $299 (named) or $899 (concurrent) per user
Bottom line: Merant Professional combines granular control of workflow, excellent source-code management, rich reporting features, and broad platform support. Flexible and scalable, it"s a top-notch means for enterprises to deal with globally distributed software development.
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Micro Focus Net Express 4.0 with .Net
Micro Focus International Ltd.
Good. 6.5
Cost: Development, $3,000 per user; Application Server, starts at $700 per 10 users; Enterprise Server, starts at $10,000, includes Application Server
Bottom line: Micro Focus makes migrating Cobol to the .Net framework almost seamless. Strong integration with Visual Studio .Net is a plus for debugging cross-language applications.
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Mindreef SOAPscope 3.0
Mindreef LLC
Excellent. 8.7
Cost: One-year license, $99 per user
Bottom line: A must-have tool for developers working with Web services, SOAPscope 3.0 is easy to configure and use. Pseudocode views of SOAP and WSDL increase programmer productivity while reducing errors.
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MKS Integrity Solution 4.6
MKS Inc.
Excellent. 8.7
Cost: 50-seat license, $92,000
Bottom line: MKS" SCM solution blends useful process management and automation tools with strong version control, useful reporting, and support for distributed team development. The flexibility, cross-platform support, and customization features make MKS a good choice for enterprise SCM.
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NuSphere PHPEd 3.3
NuSphere Inc.
Very Good. 7.9
Cost: Starts at $299
Bottom line: NuSphere PHPEd 3.3 is almost the perfect development environment for PHP. Its integrated Web browser, first-class documentation (including context-sensitive help), and wizard-based connectivity to databases and Web services make it the only IDE worth considering if PHP development is your primary job.
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Production Systems Technologies OPSJ 6.0
Production Systems Technologies Inc.
Good. 6.4
Cost: $8,000 per developer; no run-time fees
Bottom line: OPSJ is the fastest Java BRMS available by a wide margin. It"s easy to deploy in J2EE environments and provides a very natural, English-like rules language. But its developer tools and graphical interfaces fall dramatically short of true enterprise-class solutions such as JRules and Blaze Advisor.
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RadView TestView
RadView Software Ltd.
Excellent. 9.0
Cost: $26,000
Bottom line: TestView is a sophisticated testing tool for checking Web applications to ensure functionality and for stress testing Web sites with simulated high loads. With its extensible scripting, virtually anything a single user can do with a browser can be duplicated and carried out by hundreds or thousands of simulated clients.
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Sandia National Laboratories Jess 6.1p5
Sandia National Laboratories
Good. 6.1
Cost: Per server for internal use, $5,000; per application for commercial use, $15,000; 30-day trial, free; free for federal government agencies and academic research
Bottom line: Jess is faster than any Java BRMS except OPSJ, and it"s backed by solid documentation, excellent developer community support, and a well-documented API. Jess code is hard to learn, however, and the user interfaces must improve before it will be suitable for large enterprise deployments.
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Savvysoft TurboExcel
Savvysoft
Very Good. 8.4
Cost: Personal Edition, $999; Professional Edition, $2,999
Bottom line: Excel developers who want to hot-rod their favorite algorithms but who don"t fancy themselves C++ programmers will be happy to hear their time has come. TurboExcel is easy to use, and, despite a lofty price, it"s a master of its singular code-converting task.
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Segue Software SilkPerformer 6.5
Segue Software Inc.
Very Good. 8.3
Cost: 50 virtual users, $30,000
Bottom line: SilkPerformer 6.5 is easily one of the most powerful application-testing solutions available today. You can accomplish almost anything with some combination of the Silk platform tools. Tight integration with Visual Studio .Net sets it apart from many competing solutions.
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Stryon iNet 1.1
Stryon Inc.
Excellent. 9.2
Cost: For Linux and Wintel, $995; for Unix, $9,995; for midrange and mainframe platforms, $19,995
Bottom line: By converting .Net intermediate code to J2EE, iNet 1.1 broadens deployment options for .Net apps. Visual Studio .Net developers will find the going easy thanks to iNet"s integrated plug-in that seamlessly executes the conversion. Command-line conversion and stand-alone GUI conversion tools are included as well.
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VA Software SourceForge Enterprise Fusion 4
VA Software Corp.
Good. 6.5
Cost: $2,725 per user; annual software maintenance fee, 20 percent of total licensing cost
Bottom line: SourceForge Enterprise Fusion"s management, issue tracking, and reporting capabilities keep today"s distributed software development projects on track. But several shortcomings make this solution ill-suited to larger deployments.
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Zend Studio 3.0.2
Zend Technologies Ltd.
Good. 5.5
Cost: Starts at $195
Bottom line: The Zend Studio IDE leverages Zend"s active participation in the PHP project. Despite its high-quality debugger and helpful code analysis tool, in the end, technical shortcomings and poor documentation hamper performance. It fails in most ways to measure up in the commercial tools space.
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Rich Internet applications
DreamFactory Enterprise 6.35
DreamFactory
Very Good. 7.1
Cost: Starts at $10 per user; Professional (no server-deployment capability) and Runtime versions, free
Bottom line: DreamFactory amends static interfaces with interactive access to Web services-enabled data sources. Although limited in scope, features for rapid and reusable development make this a good choice for improving data lookup within browser-based apps.
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ICEsoft ICEbrowser SDK 6.0
ICEsoft Technologies Inc.
Very Good. 7.9
Cost: Development license, $15,000; deployment license calculated for each product, dependent on number of copies distributed
Bottom line: ICEbrowser is a useful Java implementation of an HTML rendering engine and supports major HTML standards, including Cascading Style Sheets, JavaScript, and HTML. It enables developers to build an HTML-centric GUI while controlling other aspects of application delivery.
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Laszlo Presentation Server 2.2
Laszlo Systems Inc.
Very Good, 7.2
Cost: Free; support, consultation services start at $15,000 per year
Bottom line: Laszlo Presentation Server 2.2 has come a long way from Version 1. Now with Web services support, useful prebuilt components, customized skinning options, and free open source licensing, LPS holds potential but still needs to include an offline client to improve performance.
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Macromedia Flex 1.5
Macromedia
Very Good, 7.9
Cost: Starts at $12,000, including Flex Builder and annual maintenance
Bottom line: The machine that is Macromedia has turned out a solid platform in a very short time. Noticeable architecture improvements enhance performance, and the included IDE streamlines development. The widespread availability of the Flash client makes it a good choice for b-to-c applications.
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Nexaweb 3.2
Nexaweb
Very Good, 8.1
Cost: Starts at $30,000 per server
Bottom line: Nexaweb is a complete toolkit that simplifies building rich clients that integrate easily with a distant server. The best applications may be ones for which the use of standard Web browsers will result in slow or intermittent service because of unreliable Internet connections.