Development platforms for J2SE, J2EE, and J2ME

Source: Dr. Dobb's Journal

Article Summary:
When I began my career as a software developer, the modern concept of an integrated development environment (IDE) was yet to be defined. Instead, developers would simply use their favorite editor and compile code from the command line. I remember how much I looked forward to getting a cup of coffee as I started the compiler, knowing how long it would take. When the compiler was finished, I would go through any errors that were listed, open the appropriate source module, and locate the offending line of code. This was a luxury, veteran developers told me, compared to punch cards or submitting code to be compiled as overnight batch jobs.

Everything changed with Microsoft's Visual C++ 1.0. There were other IDEs available for Windows development (Borland and Symantec both offered them), but Visual C++ quickly took the lead. Over time, Microsoft set the standard for modern IDE features with Visual Studio, which included tools for building C, C++, and Visual Basic applications for Windows. With Visual J++, Microsoft even extended its support to Java. Alas, Visual J++ was abandoned, never to be extended to support Java past Version 1.1. For me, this put Java development back into the "dark ages" of using a plain old editor and command line.

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