Forte for Java 3.0 isn't just another pretty integrated development environment (IDE). Sure it's got wizards and "fill in the blank" code help; but its real forte (pardon the pun) is providing a supportive and flexible environment that a true code jockey can love. It has also moved well beyond its origins in Java applets and applications into the enterprise world of J2EE and Web services.

The most recent versions of Forte for Java are amalgamations created by Sun Microsystems when it acquired both Forte and NetBeans in 1999. NetBeans brought to the party a respected open-source development framework that found its reputation in the Linux market. Forte brought more platforms and a desire to expand beyond the individual programmer into the realm of enterprise software development. The result is two versions of Forte: the Community Edition, which is free and open source (Sun Registered Library) and Enterprise Edition, which I evaluated for this review.

FORTE'S COMPANIONS

As an open-source kind of product, Forte for Java is committed to an ecumenical policy concerning many kinds of third-party plug-ins and products. This policy includes supporting a variety of application and Web servers through the J2EE Reference Implementation (JRI). However, there are favorite sons: iPlanet Application Server and Web Server. (IPlanet is a Sun/Netscape consortium.) In the setup of the enterprise edition, Forte for Java kindly offers to recognize and give priority to these two products. This vendor maneuvering is quite natural: IBM, Microsoft, and Oracle also profess flexibility and openness, but there's no doubt about their intention to have users (or enterprises) stay within their family of products. In other words, it's worth noting that although adopting Forte doesn't necessarily mean slipping into Sun's orbit; you'll probably have a smoother ride if you don't fight the gravitational pull.

THE DEVELOPMENT ENVIRONMENT

Getting up and running with Forte for Java is easy. It does require JDK 1.3.1 (so much for older versions of Java) and JRI 1.2.2. If you include a Web and application server in the development environment, you'll need a well-loaded workstation with at least an 800MHz processor and 512MB to 1GB of RAM.

There is a certain hardcore (dare I say fundamentalist) view that all a Java programmer needs is the Sun JDK and a high-powered editor. More than most commercial IDEs, Forte caters to this hands-to-the-keyboard attitude. Although it has all the modern appurtenances of programming support — context-sensitive help systems, intelligent code completion, wizards, templates, and other shortcuts — most of these things don't get in the way of writing code. (See Figure 1.)

If you know Borland's JBuilder or Microsoft Visual Basic, then Forte's user interface will look quite familiar. (For the enterprise, I consider these look-alike IDEs a good thing, the more they parallel each other, the less retraining is required.) There's a typical menu system, an extensive toolbar, and a palette of Java components that drop into the Form Editor. Likewise, there's a project file explorer, source-code editor, Properties window, Component Inspector, and an excellent Object (class) Browser. Forte binds them all together in "workspaces" for various modes: code editing, GUI building, browsing, running, and debugging.