Jim Milbery

The Java language removes several problem areas for developers, compared to C++ development, by its elimination of memory allocation and pointer management. While this generally makes Java programs more stable than their C++ brethren, it can often lead to the misconception that Java programs don't need to be optimized or profiled. Nothing could be further from the truth, especially when you consider that Java is being used to build enterprise-class applications, which require high performance. KL Group has built a strong reputation for supplying Java components to many of the leading software vendors, and they have extended their Java presence with JProbe Profiler. Product Installation KL Group delivers the software directly from their Web site for download, as well as offers the software on CD-ROM. JProbe is available for Windows 95/NT and installs with an InstallS... (more)

WebSphere 3.5

Application servers are the one category of software product that seems to be on everyone's mind these days. No longer is there any doubt in my mind that n-tier applications are the future. Certain applications will benefit from a heavy-client architecture, such as desktop publishing, but most will have at least some portion of their logic running on the middle tier. While data-intensive tasks will still run more efficiently in the database tier, key business rules and HTML-client generation will undoubtedly be handled by the application server. Every major software vendor has thr... (more)

Ensemble Streams 3.2

Moore's Law essentially states that the processor speed for chips doubles every 18 months, and it's proved to be a fundamental tenet of the high-tech industry. Milbery's Law, on the other hand, has been less rigorously proved. It states that developers have to double their output with fewer resources every time they're asked to do so. Machines get faster and faster and developers get further and further behind. One solution to this endless cycle is to aggressively model and analyze your business requirements before you start slinging code. Ideally, the closer you track your softw... (more)

Vision JADE 4.0 Business Logic Server by Vision Software Tools, Inc.

Vision JADE 4.0 is the newest release of Vision Software's application development environment for Java. While there are a bevy of Java development environments on the market, Vision JADE offers a different approach to developing Java applications. The basic design of JADE builds upon a model-driven approach to application development that Vision Software pioneered long before the world had heard of the Java language. Vision Software is in the process of releasing an updated version of JADE, version 4.0, which features a number of enhancements including an application server co... (more)

VoyagerPro 2.0 by ObjectSpace

ObjectSpace has made a name for themselves in distributed computing over the past few years. They recently announced that Sun Microsystems had licensed ObjectSpace's JGL technology (a toolkit for building and managing collections) for integration with Sun's own JavaBlend technology. ObjectSpace has followed up with the release of their VoyagerPro 2.0 product, and I had the opportunity to work with a prerelease of the software. Product Installation The product ships on CD-ROM and is also available for download from ObjectSpace's Web site in a variety of formats. The CD-ROM version i... (more)