Sun adds compiler

Sun Microsystems has been quiet about its JavaFX technology for building graphical applications since introducing it in May, but on Friday the company added a compiler to the platform, says Infoworld.

Also on tap is an updated plug-in to outfit the open source NetBeans platform for building JavaFX applications. New online demonstrations also are being made available.

Based on the Swing GUI toolkit for Java, JavaFX is intended to bolster development of graphical user experiences for systems ranging from desktops to mobile clients and even TVs.

While an official Java Specification Request for Java Platform, Enterprise Edition (Java EE) 6 was approved this week, the vote was not unanimous, reports Infoworld.

The Java Community Process Executive Committee for the enterprise and standard editions of Java voted 14 to one to pass the measure, officially known as JSR 316. The JSR now goes through the review process, with Java EE 6 expected to be available in late 2008.

The Apache Software Foundation was the lone dissenter, while Borland Software did not register a vote.

Headway Software today announced the availability of structure101 for Java Version 3 beta, says eMediawire.

This upgrade introduces the ability to define software architecture diagrams, make them visible to the whole team via the IDE and warn developers if they add or change the code in a way that is inconsistent with the defined architecture.

"Where Version 2 focused on understanding how your code is structured today, and where and why it is tangled or overly-complex," said Headway's CEO, Chris Chedgey, "Version 3 takes it to the next step, letting you define how the code should be structured and communicating this to the team so they can actually make it happen."