News

Bridging the gap between .NET and J2EE

• By John K. Waters
• November 17, 2003

Borland Software last week released the latest version of Janeva, a tool designed to help developers build applications for the Microsoft .NET Framework that are integrated with software based on J2EE and CORBA. Borland bills Janeva 6 as a tool designed to help enterprises with mixed IT environments reduce the expense and impact of integrating new and existing applications.

According to IDC analyst Rikki Kirzner, an increasing number of Web services vendors are trying to span the gap between .NET and J2EE in enterprises with ''bridging'' technologies that typically rely on evolving or proprietary standards. These bridges often require additional hardware and software, she said, and they can easily become the bottleneck and single point-of-failure in a system.

Janeva 6 is designed to allow Microsoft .NET Framework client- or server-based applications to access J2EE and CORBA server-side components through the Internet Inter-ORB Protocol (IIOP), translating data types automatically and allowing hands-free interoperability between J2EE and .NET. And unlike SOAP, which Kirzner sees as still somewhat immature, aimed as it is at providing loose couplings between applications, Janeva is tightly integrated with several development environments for the Microsoft .NET Framework, including Visual Studio for .NET and Borland C# Builder.

''One of the biggest challenges customers are facing with Web services is the complexity of implementation in high-transaction environments,'' said Borland Senior VP Boz Elloy.

With this release, Borland officials contend that Janeva now supports all major J2EE application servers with transaction and security services, including user authorization and authentication. J2EE and CORBA applications can also utilize Janeva's new callback capabilities to ''talk back'' to .NET Framework-based applications for two-way interoperability.

This release is the second upgrade to Janeva, which the Scotts Valley, Calif.-based toolmaker first launched in May.

Janeva 6 is scheduled for shipment late in the fourth quarter of 2003. Borland certifies Janeva 6 interoperability with BEA WebLogic Server 7.0, BEA WebLogic Server 8.1, Borland Enterprise Server 5.2, IBM WebSphere 5.0 and Oracle9i Application Server.

In related news, Borland also announced the launch last week of JDataStore 7, its embedded database for mobile devices. The new version includes such enhancements as database mirroring; incremental backup; and features that allow the software to work on PDAs, tablets and laptops.