News

Rational unveils J2EE RAD toolset

• By Michael W. Bucken
• May 27, 2003

The first set of Rational toolsets to carry the IBM moniker, including a J2EE RAD offering and a new version of the Rational Suite of tools, were unveiled last week. IBM's Rational unit, formed earlier this year following IBM's acquisition of Rational Software, also unveiled new versions of XDE Developer and the Robot J testing tool, renamed XDE Tester, and upgrades to the Rational Unified Process (RUP).

In addition, Rational Marketing Director David Locke told eADT that each of the new offerings offers further integration with IBM mainstays like WebSphere and WebSphere Studio. That integration began before the acquisition and, as reported in these columns last month, has been accelerated significantly since its close.

Locke told eADT that IBM expects the new Rational Rapid Developer toolset to attract more developers to J2EE, which to date has proven to be too complex for some development organizations. The new tool, which observers say targets BEA's WebLogic Workshop offering, is a visual, model-driven environment built for ease of use, Locke said. Priced at $5,995 per user, Rational Rapid Developer is slated to ship next month, he said.

The new version of XDE Developer Plus "focuses on legacy RAD rather than the more architectural, more hard-core J2EE person," Locke said. He said the toolset is aimed at transition projects, such as "Cobol or VB developers moving to J2EE." The new version incorporates the Purify Plus testing toolset and is priced at $4,195 per user, Locke said.

The new version of the Rational Suite adds an upgraded Clearcase configuration management offering and is priced from $3,995 per user, Locke said. XDE Tester, previously available only as part of the suite, is priced at $2,995. The suite is shipped in multiple packages for separate parts of the application development process. Locke said the testing tool was renamed from Robot J "to be more complementary with XDE."