Web Development Live

Sun Microsystems announced that a division of Reuters has selected the Sun Java Real-Time System to develop and deploy market-facing services.The Sun Java Real-Time System (Java RTS) is a software product that provides a development platform for creating applications, which require execution predictability. Compliant with the Real-Time specification for Java, it uses the power and scalability of the Solaris10 Operating System (OS) and the flexibility of the Java platform to provide the environment necessary for predictable computing applications in industries such as financial services, aerospace, industrial automation and scientific research.揥e wanted a Java technology-based solution that could address our demanding, and growing, requirements for predictability and low-latency, as well as enable us to leverage our existing code base and Java technology expertise, said Andrew Cunningham, Global Head of Transactions Platform Group, Sales and Trading Division at Reuters.Sun Java Real-Time System enables hard, soft, and non-real-time functions to be combined in one system while keeping critical latencies as low as 20 microseconds. Developers can differentiate processes based on their importance and can take advantage of new memory models. They can continue to take advantage of familiar development tools, such as the NetBeans Integrated Development Environment or Solaris Dynamic Tracing (DTrace).When executing on the Solaris 10 operating system, Sun Java RTS runs on over 900 standard x86 and SPARC technology platforms and can also leverage the real-time capabilities of Solaris 10. Solaris 10 enables Java RTS applications to take full advantage of multi-core and multi-processor environments. The upcoming release of Java RTS will also be available on real-time Linux distributions from Red Hat and Novell.

Salesforce.com has extended its platform as a service offering with the addition of Force.com Development-as-a-Service - a new set of development tools and APIs that help enterprise developers harness the full potential of cloud computing. Force.com, which was first unveiled during the company’s Dreamforce conference in September, is built on the company’s proprietary Visualforce technology. It gives customers, developers and independent software vendors (ISV) the ability to create custom applications and user interfaces that can be accessed from desktop PCs, iPhones or retail kiosks using the Salesforce.com service.A new API will allow developers to access Salesforce metadata. Developers will be given full access to the platform, offering data that had previously been managed by wizards and setup tools. Salesforce also unveiled a new integrated development environment, and a service known as 慍odeshare which allows developers to collaborate remotely on a project. A new ’sandbox’ option allows developers to test applications in a protected environment. The new tools are part of a larger campaign to bring third-party developers onboard. Salesforce plans to promote Force.com with a global tour dubbed ‘Tour de Force’.Salesforce.com has also released a new pay-per-login payment option for users to access applications developed on its Force.com platform.An enterprise building a low-volume, occasional use application through Force.com, such as an online vacation scheduling app, faces a list price of USD 5 for each user login, but will only be charged 99 cents through 2008 in an effort to promote use of the new platform. More frequently used applications will carry a fee of USD 50 per user per month for an unlimited number of logins.

In a surprise move, Sun Microsystems said it’s acquiring privately held open source database vendor MySQL AB for approximately USD 1 billion.Called the largest open source software deal ever, the merger makes Sun the owner of a critical part of the popular LAMP (Linux Apache MySQL Perl/Python/PHP) open source software stack. Sun already has been offering up its own software to open source, even basing its development tools strategy on the open source NetBeans platform.Following completion of the proposed transaction, MySQL will be integrated into Sun’s Software, Sales and Service organizations and the company’s CEO, Marten Mickos, will be joining Sun’s senior executive leadership team. In the interim, a joint team with representatives from both companies will develop integration plans.With the move, Sun takes a big leap into the USD 15bn database market, which brings it into competition with companies such as Microsoft, IBM and Oracle. Acquiring MySQL also gives Sun entry to customers that may be interested in buying more equipment and software; MySQL counts Facebook, Google, Nokia and Baidu as customers.Open source CRM vendor SugarCRM, PHP tools vendor Zend Technologies, and SpringSource, makers of the open source Spring Framework for Java development applauded the deal. “I think open source has gone mainstream,” and Sun has put its stamp on it, said Zend CEO Harold Goldberg. “We think it’s a great day for open source, and we think it’s a great day for the LAMP stack.”As part of the transaction, Sun will pay about USD 800 million in cash in exchange for all MySQL stock and assume about USD 200 million in options. The transaction is expected to close in late third quarter or early fourth quarter.

Sun Microsystems announced that a division of Reuters has selected the Sun Java Real-Time System to develop and deploy market-facing services.The Sun Java Real-Time System (Java RTS) is a software product that provides a development platform for creating applications, which require execution predictability. Compliant with the Real-Time specification for Java, it uses the power and scalability of the Solaris10 Operating System (OS) and the flexibility of the Java platform to provide the environment necessary for predictable computing applications in industries such as financial services, aerospace, industrial automation and scientific research.揥e wanted a Java technology-based solution that could address our demanding, and growing, requirements for predictability and low-latency, as well as enable us to leverage our existing code base and Java technology expertise, said Andrew Cunningham, Global Head of Transactions Platform Group, Sales and Trading Division at Reuters.Sun Java Real-Time System enables hard, soft, and non-real-time functions to be combined in one system while keeping critical latencies as low as 20 microseconds. Developers can differentiate processes based on their importance and can take advantage of new memory models. They can continue to take advantage of familiar development tools, such as the NetBeans Integrated Development Environment or Solaris Dynamic Tracing (DTrace).When executing on the Solaris 10 operating system, Sun Java RTS runs on over 900 standard x86 and SPARC technology platforms and can also leverage the real-time capabilities of Solaris 10. Solaris 10 enables Java RTS applications to take full advantage of multi-core and multi-processor environments. The upcoming release of Java RTS will also be available on real-time Linux distributions from Red Hat and Novell.

Salesforce.com has extended its platform as a service offering with the addition of Force.com Development-as-a-Service - a new set of development tools and APIs that help enterprise developers harness the full potential of cloud computing. Force.com, which was first unveiled during the company’s Dreamforce conference in September, is built on the company’s proprietary Visualforce technology. It gives customers, developers and independent software vendors (ISV) the ability to create custom applications and user interfaces that can be accessed from desktop PCs, iPhones or retail kiosks using the Salesforce.com service.A new API will allow developers to access Salesforce metadata. Developers will be given full access to the platform, offering data that had previously been managed by wizards and setup tools. Salesforce also unveiled a new integrated development environment, and a service known as 慍odeshare which allows developers to collaborate remotely on a project. A new ’sandbox’ option allows developers to test applications in a protected environment. The new tools are part of a larger campaign to bring third-party developers onboard. Salesforce plans to promote Force.com with a global tour dubbed ‘Tour de Force’.Salesforce.com has also released a new pay-per-login payment option for users to access applications developed on its Force.com platform.An enterprise building a low-volume, occasional use application through Force.com, such as an online vacation scheduling app, faces a list price of USD 5 for each user login, but will only be charged 99 cents through 2008 in an effort to promote use of the new platform. More frequently used applications will carry a fee of USD 50 per user per month for an unlimited number of logins.

In a surprise move, Sun Microsystems said it’s acquiring privately held open source database vendor MySQL AB for approximately USD 1 billion.Called the largest open source software deal ever, the merger makes Sun the owner of a critical part of the popular LAMP (Linux Apache MySQL Perl/Python/PHP) open source software stack. Sun already has been offering up its own software to open source, even basing its development tools strategy on the open source NetBeans platform.Following completion of the proposed transaction, MySQL will be integrated into Sun’s Software, Sales and Service organizations and the company’s CEO, Marten Mickos, will be joining Sun’s senior executive leadership team. In the interim, a joint team with representatives from both companies will develop integration plans.With the move, Sun takes a big leap into the USD 15bn database market, which brings it into competition with companies such as Microsoft, IBM and Oracle. Acquiring MySQL also gives Sun entry to customers that may be interested in buying more equipment and software; MySQL counts Facebook, Google, Nokia and Baidu as customers.Open source CRM vendor SugarCRM, PHP tools vendor Zend Technologies, and SpringSource, makers of the open source Spring Framework for Java development applauded the deal. “I think open source has gone mainstream,” and Sun has put its stamp on it, said Zend CEO Harold Goldberg. “We think it’s a great day for open source, and we think it’s a great day for the LAMP stack.”As part of the transaction, Sun will pay about USD 800 million in cash in exchange for all MySQL stock and assume about USD 200 million in options. The transaction is expected to close in late third quarter or early fourth quarter.

SEATTLE Microsoft Corp. is giving students free access to its most sophisticated tools for writing software and making media-rich Web sites, a move that intensifies its competition with Adobe Systems Inc. and could challenge open source software’s popularity.The Redmond-based software maker said late Monday it will let students download Visual Studio Professional Edition, a software development environment; Expression Studio, which includes graphic design and Web site and hybrid Web-desktop programming tools; and XNA Game Studio 2.0, a video game development program.The company will also give away SQL Server 2005 Developer Edition and Windows Server Standard Edition.Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates said the company’s past efforts to arrange educational discounts for these programs limited the number of students who ultimately could use them. DreamSpark, as Microsoft is calling the free software offering, opens up access to many more students.It’s also good for Microsoft’s business, Gates added.”We give up some revenue, but we gain the fact that we’ll get the feedback of these students, get more courses to incorporate our tools into the programs and get more startups where kids are familiar with Visual Studio, Expression Studio and SQL Server,” Gates said in a phone interview.The program, which Microsoft says will put its software and Web development tools in the hands of 1 billion students, gives momentum to an attack Microsoft launched on Adobe Systems Inc. last year with the release of Expression Studio and Silverlight, its answer to Adobe’s market-leading Photoshop and Illustrator design programs and Flash, the technology behind much of the video and animation on Web pages.”It’s a brilliant strategic move on the part of Microsoft,” said Chris Swenson, a software industry analyst with NPD Group. “This is one of the core audiences you have to hit if you really want to make a difference in the rich Internet application market going forward.”Handing out free copies of Expression Studio to students today increases the chance that the next big Web 2.0 craze will be designed with Microsoft’s tools and accessed using the Silverlight plug-in, rather than with open source and Adobe technology.DreamSpark could also win a generation of programmers away from open source software, which companies from small startups to Google Inc. use as an affordable, flexible alternative to software from the likes of Microsoft and database maker Oracle Inc.Gates said students will want to try Microsoft’s tools because they’re more powerful than the open-source combination of Linux-based operating systems, the Apache Web server, the MySQL database and the PHP scripting language used to make complex Web sites.But Gates said giving away Microsoft software isn’t intended to turn students against open source software entirely. Rather, he hopes it will just add one more tool to their belt.Giving away Visual Studio, meanwhile, will help ensure a steady stream of new desktop and desktop-Web hybrid applications Microsoft hopes will keep consumers hooked on Windows PCs, even as more programs migrate to the Web.The programs are available now to more than 35 million college students in the U.S., Belgium, China, Finland, France, Germany, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the U.K.DreamSpark will open to high school students around the world starting in the fall and to college students in other countries in the next year.Microsoft said it is working with individual schools, governments and student organizations in each country on systems that confirm students are currently enrolled.

Sun Microsystems announced that a division of Reuters has selected the Sun Java Real-Time System to develop and deploy market-facing services.The Sun Java Real-Time System (Java RTS) is a software product that provides a development platform for creating applications, which require execution predictability. Compliant with the Real-Time specification for Java, it uses the power and scalability of the Solaris10 Operating System (OS) and the flexibility of the Java platform to provide the environment necessary for predictable computing applications in industries such as financial services, aerospace, industrial automation and scientific research.揥e wanted a Java technology-based solution that could address our demanding, and growing, requirements for predictability and low-latency, as well as enable us to leverage our existing code base and Java technology expertise, said Andrew Cunningham, Global Head of Transactions Platform Group, Sales and Trading Division at Reuters.Sun Java Real-Time System enables hard, soft, and non-real-time functions to be combined in one system while keeping critical latencies as low as 20 microseconds. Developers can differentiate processes based on their importance and can take advantage of new memory models. They can continue to take advantage of familiar development tools, such as the NetBeans Integrated Development Environment or Solaris Dynamic Tracing (DTrace).When executing on the Solaris 10 operating system, Sun Java RTS runs on over 900 standard x86 and SPARC technology platforms and can also leverage the real-time capabilities of Solaris 10. Solaris 10 enables Java RTS applications to take full advantage of multi-core and multi-processor environments. The upcoming release of Java RTS will also be available on real-time Linux distributions from Red Hat and Novell.

Salesforce.com has extended its platform as a service offering with the addition of Force.com Development-as-a-Service - a new set of development tools and APIs that help enterprise developers harness the full potential of cloud computing. Force.com, which was first unveiled during the company’s Dreamforce conference in September, is built on the company’s proprietary Visualforce technology. It gives customers, developers and independent software vendors (ISV) the ability to create custom applications and user interfaces that can be accessed from desktop PCs, iPhones or retail kiosks using the Salesforce.com service.A new API will allow developers to access Salesforce metadata. Developers will be given full access to the platform, offering data that had previously been managed by wizards and setup tools. Salesforce also unveiled a new integrated development environment, and a service known as 慍odeshare which allows developers to collaborate remotely on a project. A new ’sandbox’ option allows developers to test applications in a protected environment. The new tools are part of a larger campaign to bring third-party developers onboard. Salesforce plans to promote Force.com with a global tour dubbed ‘Tour de Force’.Salesforce.com has also released a new pay-per-login payment option for users to access applications developed on its Force.com platform.An enterprise building a low-volume, occasional use application through Force.com, such as an online vacation scheduling app, faces a list price of USD 5 for each user login, but will only be charged 99 cents through 2008 in an effort to promote use of the new platform. More frequently used applications will carry a fee of USD 50 per user per month for an unlimited number of logins.

In a surprise move, Sun Microsystems said it’s acquiring privately held open source database vendor MySQL AB for approximately USD 1 billion.Called the largest open source software deal ever, the merger makes Sun the owner of a critical part of the popular LAMP (Linux Apache MySQL Perl/Python/PHP) open source software stack. Sun already has been offering up its own software to open source, even basing its development tools strategy on the open source NetBeans platform.Following completion of the proposed transaction, MySQL will be integrated into Sun’s Software, Sales and Service organizations and the company’s CEO, Marten Mickos, will be joining Sun’s senior executive leadership team. In the interim, a joint team with representatives from both companies will develop integration plans.With the move, Sun takes a big leap into the USD 15bn database market, which brings it into competition with companies such as Microsoft, IBM and Oracle. Acquiring MySQL also gives Sun entry to customers that may be interested in buying more equipment and software; MySQL counts Facebook, Google, Nokia and Baidu as customers.Open source CRM vendor SugarCRM, PHP tools vendor Zend Technologies, and SpringSource, makers of the open source Spring Framework for Java development applauded the deal. “I think open source has gone mainstream,” and Sun has put its stamp on it, said Zend CEO Harold Goldberg. “We think it’s a great day for open source, and we think it’s a great day for the LAMP stack.”As part of the transaction, Sun will pay about USD 800 million in cash in exchange for all MySQL stock and assume about USD 200 million in options. The transaction is expected to close in late third quarter or early fourth quarter.