Scott Clark

In early March of this year, Sun Microsystems' software company, JavaSoft, specified a standard SQL database access interface, the JDBC API. Java developers everywhere were finally given a tool to connect their applets and applications to databases, via the JDBC API. The API provided Java programmers with a uniform interface to a wide range of relational databases. Developers used the API as a common base on which to build higher level tools and interfaces. The JDBC API defined Java classes to represent database connections, SQL statements, result sets, database metadata, and allowed a programmer to issue SQL statements and process the results in their applets and applications. XDB Systems, Inc. is now releasing JETConnect Pro, (the first in a series of Java Enterprise Tools), which features universal database access with Java by building on the ODBC foundation, ta... (more)

Mojo from Penumbra

While a lot of Java development has been happening in the last few months, Java's learning curve has still put many a company's project on hold while developers learn to master the language. By the time the developers have caught up, new techniques and products come along. Now, we have a product that is supposed to eliminate the learning curve, and enables the developer to start producing useful applets (using drag and drop components with "actions") that can be used as is or improved on with code that you integrate into the applet. Penumbra Software's Mojo includes built-in comp... (more)

Backstage Designer Desktop Studio

On today's Internet, a Web site cannot afford to be old fashioned. An antique Web site is a dusty, unvisited vestige of yesteryear. Today's sites have to be interactive, multimedia experiences that create a lasting impression...sites that will get revisited often. The software industry has been bursting with new Web design tools, but it's still hard to find a WYSIWYG tool which can be used to design HTML pages that include the latest browser tags and plug-ins, let alone one that can be used to create dynamically produced documents. This type of program would create a unique exp... (more)

From Your Editor: Why YOUR Applet?

The Java Developer's Journal is moving in big ways. Change is constant, and the JDJ is no exception. Andrew Zolli has moved on, and for now, I am the Editor of the Java Developer's Journal. I look forward to seeing Java shape the Internet, and the world. We, the Java developers, will not only affect the Web, but the real world we live in as well. Three months ago, there were about two thousand applets at Gamelan. Now the list is well over ten thousand, and growing every day. And the majority of these applets have one thing in common: they don't really DO anything! If you are a We... (more)

Symantic's Café

Since the release of Sun's Java Development Kit last year, developers have been limited to using the command line interface to develop Java applets and applications. There have been a few Integrated Development Environments available from independent developers, but until now no major software company has released any. Symantec released Café at the beginning of March, pushed ahead of schedule by developers that wanted an IDE here and now. Café is now available for download from Symantec's Web site, and at the major software stores. I had the opportunity to check it out in all its... (more)