Volume Number: 14 (1998)
Issue Number: 10
Column Tag: Newsbits
by Jessica Courtney, managing_ed@mactech.com
Sun Microsystems, Inc. announced that it has made the beta version of its Java 3D application programming interface (API) available on the Sun Website at http://www.sun.com/desktop/java3d for free download and evaluation to anyone interested in exploring the new technology. The 3D development tool is based on open standards and is easy to use, making it an ideal choice for developers who want to create 3D content and leverage it across multiple platforms without enduring the steep learning curve of other 3D APIs.
The Java 3D API is a network-centric, scene graph-based API which enables programmers utilizing the Java (TM) programming language to quickly and easily add 3D content to their applets and applications. It is also useful to 3D developers who want to take advantage of the many benefits of applications development using Java technology.
Sun announced the Java 3D API specification last year at Siggraph 97 (August 5, 1997). Since then, thousands of developers in a wide range of disciplines from games and educational software to data visualization to MCAD/MCAE and digital content creation (DCC) have been working with the alpha version of the API. These developers have provided their feedback to Sun, which in turn has incorporated the most-requested features into this beta version of the API.
NetBeans, Inc. and Cloudscape Inc. announced that NetBeans, Inc. will bundle Cloudscape's embeddable Java-based object relational database with upcoming releases of the NetBeans IDE. Founded on the principle of Java innovation, NetBeans is the first company to offer an all-Java IDE based on Swing/JFC. Cloudscape offers the industry's first embeddable Java database, designed to be invisibly embedded within applications as a local data manager.
The Cloudscape database will be bundled with NetBeans Developer 2.0, allowing users of NetBeans Developer 2.0 to create Java applications that integrate a fully functional, yet lightweight object-relational database manager. The integrated product is expected to be available in November 1998. NetBeans Developer 2.0, written entirely in the Java(TM) language and based on Sun's Java Foundation Classes framework, is a full-featured, object oriented, visual programming environment that allows flexible development on any platform that supports JDK 1.1.x, including Mac, Linux, OS/2, Solaris, HP-UX, Irix and others. It combines the cross-platform compatibility of Java with the ease-of-use of a visual RAD programming environment, in a package that offers serious software developers a full set of advanced tools in an intuitive format. Since the release of NetBeans Developer 2.0 - Beta 1 in late June, over 18,000 new registered users have downloaded the IDE. Cloudscape ships a 100% Pure Java object-relational DBMS that provides SQL access to complex data and logic and features a small footprint. It can be extended with Java class libraries, and can manage data of any type and logic of any complexity.
The PandaWave announced the release of version 1.0.2 of BugLink, a free upgrade for existing customers.
BugLink is a bug tracking system for both the Macintosh and Microsoft Windows 95/NT. BugLink consists of a central bug database and server application, and clients which allow software developers and testers download the bugs they are interested in.
This update, which is free for all existing customers, fixes a number of problems, including a potentially fatal memory leak in the BugLink Client application. This release also fixes a few user interface glitches and a printing problem which causes the wrong date to show up on reports. A problem with the Server has also been fixed which can, under rare circumstances, cause the bug tracking database to become corrupted. This upgrade is highly recommended for all users, and can be downloaded from http://www.pandawave.com/bl/.
