Eclipse set for coordinated release of 23 updates

Computerworld - The Eclipse Foundation is set to make available tomorrow its annual coordinated release of open-source projects, which this year includes some 18 million lines of code and updates to 23 different projects.

The new Ganymede release includes a provisioning system called p2, new security features, new modeling tools and tools for creating service-oriented architectures, said Mike Milinkovich, executive director of the Eclipse Foundation. This release marks the fifth time Eclipse has issued a major project update in June; the releases have been coordinated since June 2006.

"We think it's very important that we continue to be predictable and hit our dates," Milinkovich added. "It's a big enabler for our ecosystem. Because there are so many Eclipse projects now and most end users and commercial adopters use many different Eclipse projects, by aligning and shipping them all on the same day it is a lot easier for them to pick them up."

The new p2 provisioning system is designed to make it easier for open-source developers to install and update Eclipse and the new security features.

The security updates in Ganymede provide preferences-like storage for sensitive data like passwords and log-in credentials, along with Java encryption mechanisms, Eclipse said. The update also includes support for the Java authentication service in Eclipse's Equinox OSGI framework.

Ganymede also includes the Rich AJAX Platform (RAP) 1.1, which is designed to make it easier for developers to build scalable, modular Web applications running on Equinox. New features of RAP 1.1 include the ability to customize the look and feel of applications with presentation factories and cascading style sheets, and the ability to store application state information on a per-user basis, according to Eclipse.

The JavaScript IDE in Ganymede has been updated to include new features like code completion, quick fix, formatting and validations. The Eclipse open-source Business Intelligence Reporting Tool (BIRT) features an updated JavaScript editor and a new JavaScript debugger for debugging report event handlers.

For SOA developers, the coordinated release includes a new Service Component Architecture (SCA) Designer tool that's designed to provide a graphical interface for developers who want to create composite applications using the SCA 1.0 standard. A new policy editor is aimed at making it easier for developers to build and manipulate XML expressions that conform to the WS-Policy W3C standard.