Build Java Apps

Pramati Studio 3.0 for Java developers is a feature-rich IDE (Integrated Development Environment) for Java 2 Platform (Enterprise Edition). It is a pure Java product and hence runs on any platform that supports JDK 1.3.1 or higher. Such platforms include Win 2000/NT, Linux, Solaris and IBM AIX.

Installation of the product is simple, requiring nothing more than clicking on the Next button. The user can choose to install Cloudscape Database, if needed. This is a database backend that can be used with your code. Or, you can use Oracle with a single change in settings, if it is installed on your machine. If you face a problem in the installation, a well-written manual is by your side. 

The application ships with an integrated runtime server environment. This provides server services like Web and EJB, which are comprehensive enough for testing code in a server environment before deployment. Pramati Studio 3.0 is fully compatible with J2EE 1.3 (passed the J2EE’s comprehensive Compatibility Test Suite).

The software features an excellent Editor with various aids to allow for writing quick and error-free code. Let’s look at some of these aids. VB style context-sensitive code completion is extremely helpful in increasing the speed of coding. There’s a context sensitive search that can take regular expressions, making the task quite easy. Comprehensive source-code browsing, which can be based on classes, constructors, methods or objects, is one of the things developers can look forward to when dealing with extremely tricky and long code. For example, invoking source-code browsing with the cursor, anywhere in a constructor, takes the user to the line where this constructor’s class is first defined. Another interesting behavior is that if a method is over loaded; all instances of the overloaded method are displayed in a pop up window so that user can navigate to the appropriate method.

Application development starts with the creation of a ‘desk’, which is, in fact, a logical collection of components (archives, modules, etc). The desk is based on templates provided with the software and are created using wizards. For instance, there’s a Bean Wizard to help you create Java beans in two modes: Expert (with more control) and Quick. An Interface wizard can be used for generating remote and local interfaces for EJB (Enterprise Java Beans), RMI (Remote Method Invocation), etc.

Also, for version control, rather than looking for third-party tools, developers can use the built in CVS (Concurrent Versions System).

Pramati Studio 3.0 is a modularized IDE. What this means is that all native tools use Open API to plug-in to the IDE’s framework. Hence custom-made tools tailored to specialized need can be plugged in to add more power to the application. The developer community has contributed some tools like a Memory Grapher (for showing the memory consumed by Studio in its VM). Some of these tools are available for download on the company’s website,

www.pramati.com/developer/tools/index.htm.

One of the most striking features of Studio 3.0 is the factory-fitted interface for various application servers, namely Weblogic, Oracle, Websphere and their own Pramati Server. With the IDE not being server picky, the user can switch application servers with utmost ease. There are, however, some issues with Oracle due to non-complaince of Oracle with the J2EE 1.3 specification.

The bottom line: With all theses features, Pramati Studio 3.0 aims to provide an out of the box solution for Java developers. It has been developed by a Hyderabad based company, Pramati Technologies. The product is priced very competitively, making it a good buy. 

Ankit Khare at PCQ Labs