BEA Systems Monday launched
its Controls and Extensibility program, designed to let Java developers
create and market certified controls on its server software platform.
The Workshop Extensibility Development Kit, a free download, gives Java
developers access to free code samples, tags, compilers, support,
documentation and testing harness to make their coding experience within
the
WebLogic 8.1 Workshop environment as easy as possible.
“It’s the logical integration relative to all the developer tools they
already have (with Workshop), they already had a lot of the capabilities
built in,” said John Meyer, an analyst at Forrester Research. “For them to
grow commercially, they have to create an environment similar to IBM, Sun
and even Borland.”
Workshop is a platform launched by
BEA earlier this year that lets developers fiddle with the controls
inside APIs
customizable for other applications.
BEA said the pre-packaged code will allow developers to streamline the
creation of customized programs companies need for their particular
operations. On the plus
side for BEA, it now has a control that can be quickly provided to any
prospective customer, minus the scramble and cost to assemble a control for
just that customer.
Now, developers — whether they’re independent
software vendors or individuals — pay a couple thousand dollars a year
(BEA
officials wouldn’t elaborate on the exact figure) for validating their
controls, IDE
taglibs
as ‘certified BEA’ controls through their marketing and business package.
BEA will then promote and make available the independent application to its
customer base, on its Web site, issue joint press releases, and endorse the
product.
“We do this so that the quality is the same as what we provide with our own
products,” said Dave Cotter, BEA director of developer product marketing.
“Right now, there is no program for ISVs to take the core IDE and work with
it.”
While the impetus for Workshop may have come from a desire to compete on
par
with fellow J2EE
and its Websphere Studio
platform, BEA is taking their game plan from Microsoft Corp. and its popular Visual Studio.
“Microsoft is the gold standard in developer relationships and installing a
partner community around their toolkit,” said Ted Schaedler, principal
analyst at Forrester Research. “BEA, with Workshop, is able to mimic what
Microsoft is able to do with Visual Studio. I think there’s no coincidence
the guys behind it are (former) Microsoft guys.”
