RAD tools extend their reach

RAD tools extend their reach<@VM>Delphi 6 speaks to Web services<@VM>RAD tools vary in language, as well as the apps and databases they support

• Jul 26, 2001

Rapid application development blends user-friendly modeling with Web platforms

BY DAVID ESSEX'|'SPECIAL TO GCN

For about as long as there have been programmers, there has been software to simplify a programmer's job.

No class of software has made grander promises than rapid application development tools, which are designed to automate programming with prefabricated code and an interface for quickly assembling applications. A few RAD devices even claim to make programming so easy that managers and end users can do it.

But RAD vendors admit there are some tasks the products cannot do. Low-level, close-to-the-metal code such as that for device drivers is a common example of an application that is unsuited to RAD.

There is even disagreement on RAD's definition. Two of the best-selling tools long ago given the RAD moniker, Delphi from Borland Software Corp. and Microsoft Visual Basic, are closer in scope and function to integrated development environments (IDEs). They're essentially toolkits for professional programmers, lacking the plain-English modeling tools and diagramming that nonprogrammers can understand.

The second, model-based class of RAD includes the AltoWeb e-Business Platform from AltoWeb Inc. and NeuArchitect from NeuVis Inc.

Rapid app requirements

Several vendors and industry analysts agree that, at a minimum, a RAD tool must include libraries of reusable components that provide instant functionality for major parts of an application. This is especially true for generic applications that are tedious to program, such as database connectors and client-side screen menus. They must also have a visual design interface that provides drag-and-drop control over program elements and process flows.

RAD tools vary widely in their use of proprietary or other specialized languages that add to a developer's learning curve. For example, Delphi's Object Pascal and the PowerScript fourth-generation language in PowerBuilder from Sybase Inc. are important parts of each product's programming interface.

These and some of the model-intensive tools such as NeuArchitect also are proprietary on the back end and employ their own virtual machines or run-time executables for deployment.

The Lowdown

' What is it? Rapid application development tools simplify Java and Windows-based programming by letting developers work with reusable, prepackaged software components instead of building from scratch. ' Why do you need them? RAD tools can boost the productivity of already hard-pressed programmers. ' When would you not need them? You wouldn't need them for the biggest, highest-volume or most mission-critical enterprise applications, which often are built by the best developers, who often prefer to work directly in Java or C++. ' Price? Approximately $500 to $9,000 per developer seat. Prices in the chart do not include runtime charges for the software you need to run the programs; those charges can vary from a few hundred dollars to tens of thousands of dollars for a site license. ' Must-know info? Many of these products also come in less expensive basic, desktop or professional versions but they offer less support of server, database and Web services.

Other tools, such as Visual Age for Java from IBM Corp., instead use standard Java and related components for programming, though each product's visual design environment is unique.

RAD products also differ in their ability to deploy applications either to generic, industry-standard platforms or to specific application servers such as BEA WebLogic from BEA Systems Inc. of San Jose, Calif.

The deployment decision is key. For example, choosing a tool that produces Java code complying with Sun's Java 2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE) specification, rather than Java tweaked for a particular application server, is a vote for platform independence.

But the strategy doesn't always work, said Thomas Murphy, program director at the Meta Group, a market research firm in Stamford, Conn. 'There's this idea of, if it's J2EE it will be portable,' Murphy said. 'The problem is there are some holes in the spec.'

A generic approach might also have performance disadvantages if the deployment target is an application server. For this reason, many people use RAD for non-mission-critical projects 'where resources are tight and productivity is important,' Murphy said. 'Most people don't trust all RAD code. And if a RAD tool calls all its own libraries, how are you going to change it?'

Although modeling tools have always operated from the idea that programming is for everyone, they have reappeared as important technical devices thanks to the growing popularity of the Uniform Modeling Language.

Many products, including the IDE-like tools, work with third-party UML products. The model-based products have UML built in.

A dream becomes reality

With UML becoming cool even among techies, it might appear that the decades-old dream of a rigorous, end-to-end development environment is upon us. Vendors of the new modeling environments claim they've solved the thorny problem of ensuring that the models change to reflect program changes.

But many observers are still skeptical of modeling's reliability, and Murphy said it is no panacea. 'Having to specify things in a model is often as onerous a task as writing the code itself,' he said.

Michael Blechar, a vice president at market analyst Gartner Inc. of Stamford, Conn., agreed. 'It's still really not the case that high-level people are involved,' he says.

The biggest application development breakthrough of the last year is the advent of Web services. Microsoft launched its .Net platform in November, and Oracle's Now and Sun's One quickly followed.

Web services fundamentally change the deployment equation, allowing applications to access data and other resources spread out over the Internet.

Standards and tools are still emerging, and Microsoft's upcoming Visual Studio.Net tool will contain important RAD elements, including modeling and a new language, C# (C sharp), designed to facilitate RAD. Blechar described RAD as a process, not a tool, a conscious attempt to build large-scale applications in reusable components while paying attention to business logic and workflow.

But government is several years behind the business world in adopting the object-oriented design philosophies that are the real key to RAD's promise, according to Blechar.

'They need to get to component architectures,' he said. 'Once you know what the deployment architecture is going to be, then you can decide the tools you need.'

David Essex is a free-lance technology writer based in Antrim, N.H.Borland Software Corp.'s Delphi has been a favorite rapid application development program among developers for years.

As its arch rival Microsoft Corp. does with Visual Basic, Borland calls Delphi a RAD tool, although each application is more an integrated development environment for serious programmers than a modeling tool for nonprogrammers.

Delphi aims to remove much of the tedium from programming, with code libraries and visual tools for building programs out of mostly preassembled objects, while assisting with low-level coding where necessary.

The $2,999 Enterprise version of the latest upgrade, Delphi 6, is among the first RAD tools to support the emerging Web service platforms from Microsoft, Oracle Corp. and Sun Microsystems Inc.

One Borland competitor dismissed the claim as hollow, and said Web service proponents haven't even finalized their specs or delivered all the needed software. But Michael Swindell, Borland's director of product management, said Delphi 6 follows the World Wide Web Consortium's definition of Web services and incorporates Extensible Markup Language and Simple Object Access Protocol. 'The XML documents and data actually are native Delphi objects,' he said.

Highlights of Delphi 6 include the new BizSnap platform for building business-to-business Web services and connections in XML and SOAP; WebSnap, a component framework supporting such Web application servers as Apache and Microsoft Internet Information Server, and DataSnap Web service-enabled middleware for connecting to popular databases.

Delphi 6 also works with Borland's new Kylix, a Linux RAD tool, which means developers can use a single code base to deploy applications on both Microsoft Windows and Linux.

'David Essex

Company	Product	Modeling tool included?	Developmental environment	Primary deployment targets (all products also deploy to Web platforms)	Application servers supported	Databases supported	Web services?	Price
AltoWeb Inc. Palo Alto, Calif. 650-251-1500 www.altoweb.com	AltoWeb e-Business Platform Release 2.1	Yes	Visual	J2EE via proprietary Alto-Server runtime platform (requires J2EE-compliant application server)	Any J2EE-compliant server, ATG Dynamo, BEA WebLogic, Jboss, Tomcat	DB2, Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle, Sybase	No	$2,500
Borland Software Corp. Scotts Valley, Calif. 831-431-1000 www.borland.com	Delphi 6 Enterprise Edition	No	Visual and Object Pascal	Java, Microsoft, Oracle, Sun Web services, Windows desktops, Linux (requires Kylix)	Borland Application Server	Access, DB2, Dbase, FoxPro, Informix, Interbase, Microsoft SQL Server, MyBase, MySQL, Oracle, Paradox, Sybase	Yes	$2,999
	JBuilder 5 Enterprise	No	Visual and Java	J2EE	BEA WebLogic, Borland Application Server, Websphere	Any JDBC-compliant databse	No	$2,999
	Kylix Server Developer	No	Visual and Object Pascal	Linux servers via proprietary runtime libraries	Apache	DB2, Interbase, MyBase (XML), MySQL, Oracle	No	$1,999
Computer Associates International Inc. Islandia, N.Y. 631-342-6000 www.ca.com	COOL:Gen 6.0	Yes	Visual	C, Cobol, C++, Java on OS/390, Unix, Windows	Iplanet, Jboss, Jrun, BEA WebLogic	DB2, Informix, Nonstop SQL, RDB, SQL Server, Sybase	No	$12,000 up
	COOL:Joe 2.0	Yes	Visual and Java	J2EE	Any J2EE-compliant server, BEA WebLogic, iPlanet, Jboss, Jrun, Websphere	Any JDBC-compliant server	No	$3,500
Compuware Corp. Farmington Hills, Mich. 248-737-7300 www.compuware.com	Uniface 8.1	Yes	Visual and proprietary fourth-generation (4GL) language	Various component standards, including COM+, CORBA, Enterprise Java Beans	Uniface WebApplication Server	DB2, Informix,SQL Server, Oracle, Sybase, several mainframe databases	No	$2,000
Four J's America Inc. Seattle 206-394-9844 www.4jsamerica.com	Business Development Language/Internet Rapid Application Development Suite	No	Proprietary 4GL language	Windows, Java via proprietary virtual machine	None	Adabas, DB2, Informix SQL Server, Oracle, PostgreSQL, Sybase	No	$5,000
IBM Corp. Armonk, N.Y. 800-426-4968 www.ibm.com	VisualAge for Java 3.5 Enterprise Edition	No	Visual and Java	J2EE	Any J2EE-compliant server, Websphere	DB2, Lotus Notes, Oracle, Sybase	No	$2,849 for disks; $2,522 for download
Microsoft Corp. Redmond, Wash. 425-882-8080 www.microsoft.com	Visual Basic 6 Enterprise Edition	Yes	Visual Basic	Windows, Web via Microsoft IIS	Microsoft IIS	ADO, OLE DB, Oracle, SQL Server	No	$1,299
NeuVis Inc. Shelton, Conn. 877-638-8471 www.neuvis.com	NeuArchitect 3.0	Yes	Visual	Java via proprietary virtual machine	Any J2EE-complaint, server, BEA WebLogic, IIS, iPlanet, Websphere	DB2, SQL Server, Oracle, Sybase	No	$7,999 per developer seat plus $12,500 per server CPU*
Oracle Corp. Redwood Shores, Calif. 650-506-7000 www.oracle.com	Jdeveloper 3.2	Yes	Visual and Java	J2EE	Any J2EE-compliant, server, Oracle9i Application Server	JDBC	No	$1,750
Sun Microsystems Inc. Palo Alto, Calif. 800-786-7638 www.sun.com	Forte for Java 3.0 Internet Edition	No	Visual and Java	J2EE, Java Web services	Any J2EE-compliant server, iPlanet	JDBC, JDO	Yes	$495
Sybase Inc. Emeryville, Calif. 510-922-3500 www.sybase.com	PowerBuilder 8	No	Visual and proprietary Power-Builder 4GL	Windows, Sybase EAServer	Sybase EAServer	DB2, Informix, JDBC, SQL Server, ODBC Oracle, Sybase	No	$2,995
	PowerJ 3.6	No	Visual-style and Java	J2EE	Sybase EAServer, any EJB1.1-compliant server	ODBC	No	$595
TogetherSoft Corp. Raleigh, N.C. 919-833-5550 www.togethersoft.com	Together ControlCenter 5.0	Yes	C++, InterfaceDefinition Language, Java	J2EE	BEA WebLogic, Brokat/Gemstone Gemstone J, Iona iPortal, iPlanet, Silverstream Server, Sun J2EE RI, Websphere	Access, DB2, Cloudscape, Informix, SQL Server, MySQL, Oracle, Sybase	No	$5,995
Versata Inc. Oakland, Calif. 800-984-7638 www.versata.com	Versata E-Business Automation System	Yes	Visual and Java	CORBA and EnterpriseJava Beans servers via proprietary server	Any CORBA- or J2EE-compliant server,Versata Interaction Server, Versata Logic Server, CORBA, EJB,BEA WebLogic, Websphere	DB2, Informix, SQL Server, Oracle, Sybase	No	$3,000
WebGain Inc. Santa Clara, Calif. 877-932-4246 www.webgain.com	WebGain Studio 4.5 Professional Edition	Yes	Visual and Java	J2EE	BEA WebLogic, Bluestone, iPlanet, WebSphere	JDBC	No	$8,995
	Visual Caf' 4.5 Enterprise Edition	No	Visual and Java	J2EE	Any J2EE-compliant server; comes with BEA WebLogic	JDBC	No	#3,714
*(one-year license)