SAN FRANCISCO — Oracle is approaching its
legions of developers with a new set of tools and incentives to
invigorate its install base.
The Redwood Shores, Calif.-based software giant announced the start
of Project Columbus, a platform for developers made by developers that
is expected to launch in earnest next year. Oracle also announced Oracle
JDeveloper 10g Release 2, which debuts the company’s Application
Development Framework (ADF) Faces, graphical components that are based
on the JavaServer Faces (JSR-127) specification.
Chuck Rozwat, Oracle executive vice president, said the company
realized it needed to revise its developer tools using graphical
interfaces to match the success that Microsoft enjoys.
To that end, Rozwat said Project Columbus is being viewed as a
start-up project to address the needs of database developers
to engineer a complete life cycle of building, managing and
updating a database.
“The goal is to build a tool for the bulk of our installed base which
is database developers who’ve been neglected,” Rozwat said during a
press briefing at Oracle’s OpenWorld conference here. “We’re bringing
together the function so they can use SQL or PL/SQL to program but have
a graphical and easy-to-use tool.”
To bridge that gap, the executive said Oracle inked a deal with
Microsoft this week to let its developers access Oracle software via
Visual Studio. The collaboration is expected to help Oracle databases
collaborate better with Microsoft SQL Server.
Graphical interfaces in development tools are gaining value,
according to analysts, as companies demand that applications have more
meaningful conversations with those who build, manage and maintain
those applications and services.
If Project Columbus helps Oracle’s enterprise customers discover new,
less-expensive and time-consuming routes to database-related
development, similar benefits could be on the horizon, said Michael
Dortch, a principal business analyst with IT infrastructure consultant
Robert Francis Group.
“Companies such as BMC Software and Computer Associates have done
well by making database administration easier and cheaper,” Dortch told
internetnews.com. “This is often done by putting a graphical
interface in front of the task, making it less daunting to employees not
deeply experienced in the field. Since these employees are often cheaper
and more plentiful than experienced database administrators, those
graphical interfaces often translate directly into lower TCO and other
business benefits.”
Oracle is also addressing its large install base of Java-centric
developers with the release of its
next-generation
Oracle JDeveloper 10g.
The database software giant said Release 2 includes Oracle
Application Development Framework (ADF) Faces, a rich set of GUI
components that implement the JavaServer Faces standard
and improve productivity for Java developers building Web interfaces.
The new JDeveloper 10g also features enhanced Java editing,
compiling, and deployment, as well as XML coding features like an XML
Editor, XML Schema Editor and XSLT Mapping tools. The developer platform
also comes with improved code navigation, hierarchy browsing, code
re-factoring and code templating features to help streamline the
development process.
Oracle said Release 2 even includes major
enhancements to support team development, including better cooperation
with Concurrent Versions System (CVS) and Clearcase for source code management.
In separate news, Oracle announced the Oracle Space Sweepstakes
where the winner can participate in a
suborbital space flight to experience weightlessness and view the earth
from 62 miles above the surface.