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Message:

JBuilder vs VA

Posted by Cristian on October 24, 2001 at 4:09 PM

I haven't seen any article on this subject, but I am researching. The main difference I see between JBuilder 5 and Visual Age 3.5 are the following (That I can see):

1) Visual Age compiles the classes every time you load them in the IDE. As soon as you finish writting a method Visual Age will compile it. In contrast JBuilder will only compile when you say 'Compile', or 'Run'. Consequences:
-In JBuilder you can load classes much faster than in VA.
-In JBuilder you can't run your server or application unless everything compiles (Even the code you are not really using)
-In VA you can test areas of your code that compile, even though other sections of the code are not compiling. This is great for large projects with a lot of people involved.

2) Visual Age is much better for debugging reasons.
-In VA you can change the code at run time and re-test on the fly without re-starting the application.
-In VA you can always inspect the values of variables - this is not always possible in JBuilder.

3) Visual Age has some bugs that are really bothering, but once learned VA is a worthwhile tool. These bugs give VA a steep learning curve.

4) VA is more propertary (Is this a word?) I mean, it is not as open to changes as JBuilder. For example, it is a little behind in JDKs, and doesn't allow integration to WebLogic (big app server).

I hope this helps.

Cristian