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SunSoft Java Development WorkShop vs Symantec Cafe 1.5
Java Tools
by Fred Katt
Applets are mini-programs designed to work on any platform. These applets can be just about anything, from simple animations to sophisticated financial calculators. If building Java applets from the ground up is not your forte, there are two new Java application development tools from Symantec and SunSoft on the market.
January 10, 1999
These days, most Web site designers are scrambling to add Java applets to jazz up their sites. Java-capable browsers like Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0 bring an extraordinary new world of Java applets to Web surfers. Both Symantec Cafe 1.5 and SunSoft's Java WorkShop 1.0 make Java development faster and easier, and both are priced under $300. Either program will provide you with all the tools you'll need to design Java applets, a text editor, debugger and compiler. The biggest difference between the two products is in the interface. Symantec Cafe uses a standard Windows interface, while Java WorkShop uses a browser view.
At first glance, Cafe looks a lot like Symantec's C++ programming tool. The editor, debugger, and other modules can be open simultaneously, and a toolbar occupies the top of the window. New users might find all these onscreen options intimidating at first, but this approach -- having as many tools as possible on the opening screen -- makes the most sense for seasoned programmers.
SunSoft's Java WorkShop takes a different route. Its main screen looks and acts like a Web browser. The programming tools are all there, but they're buried beneath several layers of menus and dialog boxes. Surprisingly, Symantec Cafe, with its more sophisticated interface, ran faster than Java WorkShop. Much of this performance difference is due to the fact that WorkShop was written entirely in Java, while Cafe is a hybrid of C++ and Java.
Just-in-Time Java's cross-platform architecture, one of its best features, is possible because applets are interpreted by the Java Virtual Machine, a layer between raw Java code and any given operating system. This process makes Java much slower than compiled languages, which are customized for specific operating systems. The answer? Just-in-time (JIT) compilers, which convert Java code on the fly for specific clients in their platform's native machine code, and improve applet speeds by a factor of up to 20. Performance-minded Web developers will definitely want to use JITs for all Java development. For now, Symantec Cafe is the only Java tool to include a JIT compiler. SunSoft will include its own JIT in a more expensive Java applet-building product later this year. Other tools on the horizon that will include JITs are Borland's Java development technology, code-named Latte, and Microsoft's Visual J++.
Like most development tools, neither Symantec Cafe nor Java WorkShop is designed for programming newbies. But for experienced programmers, Symantec Cafe and SunSoft's Java WorkShop make it easy to create sophisticated Java applets in record time. Java WorkShop offers the advantage of a free try-before-you-buy program, but Cafe's rich interface and speed advantages give it the edge for fast applet building and performance.
Fred Katt is a Webmaster and systems administrator for a news syndicate in Glendale, Arizona. Fred has written extensively on Web design and hardware topics for many industry publications. He can be e-mailed at tricity@aol.com.
Fred Katt
is a Webmaster and systems administrator for a news syndicate in Glendale, Arizona. Fred has written extensively on Web design and hardware topics for many industry publications. He can be e-mailed at tricity@aol.com
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