Microsoft Announces Widespread Availability of Visual J++
ActiveX, Performance and the Debugger Have Made Developers
Switch to J++
REDMOND, Wash. ? Oct. 1, 1996 ? Microsoft Corp. today announced
the widespread availability of the Microsoft? Visual J++?
development tool, Professional Edition, the first Java? development
tool to create fully Java-compatible applets and provide
extensibility with ActiveX? technologies. Included with Visual
J++ is an array of independent Java programming tools and
libraries that integrate with and extend Visual J++ to meet a
wide range of development tasks. Already, based on the quality
and productivity of the extremely popular Visual J++ beta program,
large numbers of developers are switching to Visual J++ from other
Java development tools.
With Visual J++, programmers can create 100 percent Java-compatible,
multiplatform Java code as well as extend their Java applications
with components created in a variety of other programming languages
that support the ActiveX specification. Visual J++ is the first
Java development tool that lets developers take advantage of the
thousands of available ActiveX Controls and components. This means
Java now has support for many new capabilities, including database
access, distributed systems, high-performance multimedia and
integration with existing programming languages.
To provide developers with a wide range of Java capabilities,
Microsoft has included a number of products developed by
independent software vendors, including these:
* AimTech Corp.'s Jamba.
Jamba is an exciting Java graphics effects program included with
a custom AppWizard that runs within the Visual J++ development
environment and helps developers create graphical Java objects
that can be used with Jamba.
* Neural Applications Corp.'s E-Mail Wizard.
This custom Java AppWizard allows developers to easily create mail
dialog boxes to include in Java applets and applications.
* Object Space Inc.'s Java Generic Library.
This comprehensive set of reusable data structures and algorithms
allows developers to leverage considerable existing code that the
basic Java (JDK) classes are missing.
* Dimension X's Liquid Motion.
This tool, created with Visual J++, provides a quick way for
developers to create 2-D animation in Java, which can then be
optimized and extended using Visual J++.
* Bulletproof Corp.'s J Design Pro.
This database application links HTML pages to a server to easily
search for information. It will be available via the Internet.
More than 100,000 copies of the Visual J++ beta have been
downloaded over the Internet. This beta version has been
extremely well received and, based on the beta, large numbers
of developers have switched to Visual J++ from other Java
development tools.
"Of all the Java development systems we tried, we selected
Microsoft Visual J++ because of its speed and ease of use,"
said Gary Hughes, president of Stargate Video Systems.
"We like using Visual J++ better than Caf?," said Stephen Blaha,
Bali Software Ltd. "Visual J++ has more synergy with other
development languages, enabling our programmers to take
advantage of the features of these other languages with Java."
"Switching from Caf? to Visual J++ made Java programming
faster and easier because the integration of J++ into the
Developer Studio IDE [integrated developer environment]
creates a friendly, familiar working environment," said Marc
Mercuri, director of interactive development Data Information
Services Inc.
Developers are praising the ability of Visual J++ to extend
Java applications with components created in a variety of
other programming languages supporting ActiveX. "By
integrating Visual J++ into Developer Studio, Microsoft
has created a world-class Java development environment,"
said Jim Flynn, general manager of @Work Technologies.
"We are using Visual J++ to create platform-independent
ActiveX Controls that can be seamlessly integrated with
our existing C++ programs. The wizards make developing
Java programs and HTML ultra-simple, and the graphical
debuggers in Visual J++ are miles ahead of any other Java
product on the market."
>> Availability and Pricing <<
Visual J++ is widely available for approximately $99. The
product includes the book "Learn Java Now," which teaches
the fundamentals of programming in Java, written by Stephan
R. Davis. To find out more information about Visual J++,
visit the Microsoft Web site at
http://www.microsoft.com/visualj/.
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (NASDAQ "MSFT") is the worldwide
leader in software for personal computers. The company
offers a wide range of products and services for business
and personal use, each designed with the mission of making
it easier and more enjoyable for people to take advantage
of the full power of personal computing every day.
For online product information:
Microsoft Web page: http://microsoft.com/visualj/
Thanks,
Doyoung Rhee
(02) 531-4628 , dyrhee@microsoft.com