RE: Support of Visual Age... -- JAVA400-L

> From: Joe Pluta
>
> Gary, I really didn't mean to disrespect either Eclipse or
> WSAD.  It's more the constant change that's killing me.  I
> suppose the fact that I've got some REALLY nice VAJ training
> materials is part of the issue as well <grin>.

Joe, I can certainly understand this.  I feel the same way.  However, it
is the price that we're paying for being on the leading edge of
Java/J2EE development.  As you've noted, the whole landscape is changing
very rapidly and the tools are only beginning to catch up.  I, too, was
caught in the WAS free => $ transition but IBM has luckily provided
Apache+Tomcat for free which is working well.  Also, some might complain
about the Toolbox vs JTOpen arrangement but I think JTOpen has worked
well to overcome the inertia of the LPP release mechanism and get
features/bug fixes into the hands of the users as quickly as possible.
Maybe you're just too close to that to realize that it's really the same
problem. :).

IBM has provided with a choice:  latest features versus stability.  Each
user can decide for themselves.  I just needed some enterprise features
(like .ear building) that were getting just too cumbersome in VAJ which
is why I switched.

IBM needed an IDE fast so they resurrected their Visual Age for
Smalltalk, written in Smalltalk, and made it into VAJ.  It had a lot of
great features but also a lot of disadvantages, particularly when
working in open source projects where VAJ would re-alphabetize methods
and other annoying behaviors.  I think IBM has learned a lot from VAJ
and come out with a truly superior IDE in Eclipse/WSAD.  It works the
way that Java and J2EE developers work, IMHO.

>
> In any event, if WSAD has some of the features I've grown to
> love (like the ability to move a method from one class to
> another, or automatic impact of change when I rename a
> method, or the ability to quickly see all the references to a
> type, or the easy import and export of packages and
> directories), then I'll be the first one to sing its praises.

WSAD has all of those features and more.  Actually, I think they're part
of Eclipse itself.  Also, it allows moving classes from one package to
another which was a pain with VAJ.  This falls under the Eclipse
category of "Refactoring" in the JDT (Java Development Toolkit) and is
an area of heavy focus which is being addressed for Eclipse 2.0.  Early
versions of 2.0 are already available with a release planned for April
(stable build/feature complete due Feb 15th).

In addition, like JTOpen, you have direct access to the developers via a
mailing list and bugzilla.  They have been very responsive so far and
appreciate any and all input.

>
> The trick is going to be to find the time to learn YET
> ANOTHER development environment.

If you're familiar with VAJ, it should be a snap.  Please post any
questions here and I'll try to help out.

Gary