Java compilers...

[Orsorum]

'K... looking for another good Java editor, one that can be used with a UML diagram (makes it easier to examine class relationships, for me). I've been using BlueJ, but it's decided to suddenly stop working, I'm curious if installing Visual Studio .NET affected it... argh.

Well, if anyone has any suggestions, I'd appreciate it.

 

[gittyup]

I don't have any suggestions for you, but do have a question.

I am working in a joint development project with some folks from France. They use UML and requested that we do the same. I have been looking for a class to take locally with my company. Anyway, what is your thoughts on UML? I have a very general understanding on the logic that UML forces you to think in. Thanks.....

 

[manly]

A code editor and a UML diagramming tool are two separate tools. Sometimes, they are nicely integrated into a so-called two-way tool, where the source code and UML diagram are logically connected and any edit in one representation updates the other.

One successful example is Together ControlCenter. Unfortunately, Together is wildly expensive (it's targetted for companies) and it also requires a lot of system resources. They have a community edition available which only does class diagrams, but currently you can't really get it. They just released version 6.0, but the community license you can download only works w/ 5.5.

Together ControlCenter, as the name might suggest, is a very ambitious tool. In this sense, it easily rivals VStudio in features. Together can call into an external editor (i.e. emacs) if you're disappointed with their native editor. Together also supports C++ and a couple .Net languages, but it's primarily a Java development platform.

The other example that comes to mind is IBM's Eclipse IDE. Rational, which is the de facto leader in UML technologies, has a product called Rational XDE that plugs into Eclipse. I have no experience with this.

Installing VStudio shouldn't break a Java tool, but it's possible. Why can't you re-install BlueJ?

 

[Gooberlx2]

I'd have to recommend IBM Visual Age for Java. I've been using it for a couple of years and it's the best Java IDE I've seen. As far as UML goes I dunno. But VAJ is definitely the tool for java development.

...

IMHO

 

[gittyup]

I use JBuilder, by the way.

 

[manly]

gittyup,

I'm not a UML expert by any means, but object modeling is definitely an important facet of OO design. If you're going to model, you might as well use a tool to automate the process.

On the other hand, in recent years, I'd say there's an increasing movement against UML modeling driving the development process. Developing and maintaining UML models for a typical software project can be a huge undertaking, with questionable return on investment.

You should do some research into the "agile development" movement as popularized by the book Extreme Programming. Agile development basically encourages a software developer to only create the models and code necessary to implement their software. Any more (i.e. adopting an expensive development ritual centered around Rational UML tools) is a waste of time and human effort.

Whichever development methodology you choose, I'd highly recommend reading the book.

 

[Orsorum]

<< A code editor and a UML diagramming tool are two separate tools. Sometimes, they are nicely integrated into a so-called two-way tool, where the source code and UML diagram are logically connected and any edit in one representation updates the other.

One successful example is Together ControlCenter. Unfortunately, Together is wildly expensive (it's targetted for companies) and it also requires a lot of system resources. They have a community edition available which only does class diagrams, but currently you can't really get it. They just released version 6.0, but the community license you can download only works w/ 5.5.

Together ControlCenter, as the name might suggest, is a very ambitious tool. In this sense, it easily rivals VStudio in features. Together can call into an external editor (i.e. emacs) if you're disappointed with their native editor. Together also supports C++ and a couple .Net languages, but it's primarily a Java development platform.

The other example that comes to mind is IBM's Eclipse IDE. Rational, which is the de facto leader in UML technologies, has a product called Rational XDE that plugs into Eclipse. I have no experience with this.

Installing VStudio shouldn't break a Java tool, but it's possible. Why can't you re-install BlueJ? >>



I installed BlueJ after I installed VS... I'll give it a few more tries. Oddly, the other Java tool my cse class provides me with, Jeva (?), doesn't work either.

Hmm.

 

[Orsorum]

I should clarify... BlueJ works, kind of. It can open an existing Java file just fine, I just can't create a new one. Very, very frustrating.

Any suggestions?

 

[Rakkis]

You can try Webgain's Visual Cafe. Formerly Symantec's Visual Cafe.

 

[manly]

The typical Java program is a collection of JAR libraries, and a script that fires up the JVM and calls a main class. Sounds primitive, but it works.

The nice thing about this is that it's very rare for other software to pollute a Java application to the point it doesn't work.

My suggestion is to run the application start-up script from a command prompt. If any exceptions are thrown, they might be emitted to the console and you can diagnose why BlueJ isn't working correctly.

Do you have the latest, stable version? Are you running a JVM that BlueJ is *known* to work well with? If you can accertain any more error information, I might have some more suggestions.