RAD tools extend their reach

'|'SPECIAL TO GCNFor about as long as there have been programmers, there has been software to simplify a programmer's job.No class of software has made grander promises than rapid application development tools, which are designed to automate programming with prefabricated code and an interface for quickly assembling applications. A few RAD devices even claim to make programming so easy that managers and end users can do it.But RAD vendors admit there are some tasks the products cannot do. Low-level, close-to-the-metal code such as that for device drivers is a common example of an application that is unsuited to RAD.There is even disagreement on RAD's definition. Two of the best-selling tools long ago given the RAD moniker, Delphi from Borland Software Corp. and Microsoft Visual Basic, are closer in scope and function to integrated development environments (IDEs). They're essentially toolkits for professional programmers, lacking the plain-English modeling tools and diagramming that nonprogrammers can understand.The second, model-based class of RAD includes the AltoWeb e-Business Platform from AltoWeb Inc. and NeuArchitect from NeuVis Inc.Several vendors and industry analysts agree that, at a minimum, a RAD tool must include libraries of reusable components that provide instant functionality for major parts of an application. This is especially true for generic applications that are tedious to program, such as database connectors and client-side screen menus. They must also have a visual design interface that provides drag-and-drop control over program elements and process flows.RAD tools vary widely in their use of proprietary or other specialized languages that add to a developer's learning curve. For example, Delphi's Object Pascal and the PowerScript fourth-generation language in PowerBuilder from Sybase Inc. are important parts of each product's programming interface.These and some of the model-intensive tools such as NeuArchitect also are proprietary on the back end and employ their own virtual machines or run-time executables for deployment.Other tools, such as Visual Age for Java from IBM Corp., instead use standard Java and related components for programming, though each product's visual design environment is unique.RAD products also differ in their ability to deploy applications either to generic, industry-standard platforms or to specific application servers such as BEA WebLogic from BEA Systems Inc. of San Jose, Calif.The deployment decision is key. For example, choosing a tool that produces Java code complying with Sun's Java 2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE) specification, rather than Java tweaked for a particular application server, is a vote for platform independence.But the strategy doesn't always work, said Thomas Murphy, program director at the Meta Group, a market research firm in Stamford, Conn. 'There's this idea of, if it's J2EE it will be portable,' Murphy said. 'The problem is there are some holes in the spec.'A generic approach might also have performance disadvantages if the deployment target is an application server. For this reason, many people use RAD for non-mission-critical projects 'where resources are tight and productivity is important,' Murphy said. 'Most people don't trust all RAD code. And if a RAD tool calls all its own libraries, how are you going to change it?'Although modeling tools have always operated from the idea that programming is for everyone, they have reappeared as important technical devices thanks to the growing popularity of the Uniform Modeling Language.Many products, including the IDE-like tools, work with third-party UML products. The model-based products have UML built in.With UML becoming cool even among techies, it might appear that the decades-old dream of a rigorous, end-to-end development environment is upon us. Vendors of the new modeling environments claim they've solved the thorny problem of ensuring that the models change to reflect program changes.But many observers are still skeptical of modeling's reliability, and Murphy said it is no panacea. 'Having to specify things in a model is often as onerous a task as writing the code itself,' he said.Michael Blechar, a vice president at market analyst Gartner Inc. of Stamford, Conn., agreed. 'It's still really not the case that high-level people are involved,' he says.The biggest application development breakthrough of the last year is the advent of Web services. Microsoft launched its .Net platform in November, and Oracle's Now and Sun's One quickly followed.Web services fundamentally change the deployment equation, allowing applications to access data and other resources spread out over the Internet. Standards and tools are still emerging, and Microsoft's upcoming Visual Studio.Net tool will contain important RAD elements, including modeling and a new language, C# (C sharp), designed to facilitate RAD. Blechar described RAD as a process, not a tool, a conscious attempt to build large-scale applications in reusable components while paying attention to business logic and workflow.But government is several years behind the business world in adopting the object-oriented design philosophies that are the real key to RAD's promise, according to Blechar.'They need to get to component architectures,' he said. 'Once you know what the deployment architecture is going to be, then you can decide the tools you need.'XXXSPLITXXX-Borland Software Corp.'s Delphi has been a favorite rapid application development program among developers for years. As its arch rival Microsoft Corp. does with Visual Basic, Borland calls Delphi a RAD tool, although each application is more an integrated development environment for serious programmers than a modeling tool for nonprogrammers.Delphi aims to remove much of the tedium from programming, with code libraries and visual tools for building programs out of mostly preassembled objects, while assisting with low-level coding where necessary.The $2,999 Enterprise version of the latest upgrade, Delphi 6, is among the first RAD tools to support the emerging Web service platforms from Microsoft, Oracle Corp. and Sun Microsystems Inc.One Borland competitor dismissed the claim as hollow, and said Web service proponents haven't even finalized their specs or delivered all the needed software. But Michael Swindell, Borland's director of product management, said Delphi 6 follows the World Wide Web Consortium's definition of Web services and incorporates Extensible Markup Language and Simple Object Access Protocol. 'The XML documents and data actually are native Delphi objects,' he said.Highlights of Delphi 6 include the new BizSnap platform for building business-to-business Web services and connections in XML and SOAP; WebSnap, a component framework supporting such Web application servers as Apache and Microsoft Internet Information Server, and DataSnap Web service-enabled middleware for connecting to popular databases.Delphi 6 also works with Borland's new Kylix, a Linux RAD tool, which means developers can use a single code base to deploy applications on both Microsoft Windows and Linux. XXXSPLITXXX-