Hewlett-Packard Co is teaming up with Symantec Corp to give a boost to its Java development tools strategy, following Sun Microsystems Inc recent acquisitions of NetBeans Inc and Forte Software Inc. The alliance will see Symantec’s VisualCafe Enterprise Suite promoted as a preferred Java development environment for the HP-UX Unix operating system. The two plan a series of joint marketing and sales programs and will cooperate on joint development activities to further integrate the Symantec software with HP-UX.
HP says it wants to see improved performance and ease-of-use for customers developing Java applications using VisualCafe for deployment on HP’s N-Class and L-Class servers. The suite includes a full Java IDE, a pluggable architecture for integrating third party tools, and supporting professional services. It should also give HP customers access to more Java applications.
Meanwhile, Sun is attempting to establish a complete end-to-end set of Java IDE tools of its own. It fears that a lack of tools could hold back the momentum of Java, and the related internet application server products now on the market. And the independent software vendors which have traditionally supplied the volume software development tools market, such as Symantec and Inprise Corp (formerly Borland), are under pressure in the market from its biggest enemy, Microsoft Corp, and seeking more support from the major systems vendors. HP has an uneasy relationship with Sun concerning Java, ever since it went off by itself an created a clean room version of Embedded Java, the Chai virtual machine.
