Eclipse, a project backed by IBM to create open-source development tools, later this month will release an update to its technology designed to help link different programming tools.
The development-tool project is creating a common structure, or software framework, that connects programming, debugging and testing tools from multiple companies. It allows software developers to choose development tools from different software makers and plug them together, making them easier to learn and use.
The Eclipse project -- which now has the backing of more than 150 software companies, including Borland, Rational Software, Red Hat and Sybase -- supports the Java, C, C++, C# and Cobol programming languages.
Eclipse next week is sprucing up its software framework with more operating system and language support, said Duffy Fron, a program manager at IBM's software group. Version 2 of the Eclipse framework will now support Solaris, HP-UX, AIX and QNX operating systems, he said. Eclipse previously supported Windows and Linux.
The new version can integrate tools that support nine languages, including French, German, Italian, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Japanese and Taiwanese. Version 2 is also faster, easier to use and maintain, and supports the Java Development Kit version 1.4, Fron said.
Eclipse, which released a test version of the new framework in June, will release a final version on Sept. 18.
IBM launched Eclipse in November 2001 by donating $40 million worth of its software tools to the open-source project. It competes against NetBeans, a rival open-source Java tools effort created by Sun Microsystems. Open-source software poses a challenge to proprietary software such as Microsoft Windows because people can view, modify and redistribute the technology for free.
