Aldon Adds Support for WDSc Lite

Published: May 16, 2006

by Alex Woodie

Aldon last week announced support for WebSphere Development Studio Client Lite, the slimmer, faster version of IBM's integrated development environment (IDE) for OS/400 servers. With the new change management plug-in unveiled last week, programmers can now access the development and deployment control mechanisms of the Aldon Lifecycle Manager from within WDSc Lite, in the same way they did with the full WDSc release.

When IBM introduced WDSc in 2002, it marked the first time iSeries developers had a single IDE that could handle traditional RPG and COBOL development, as well as development utilizing newer technologies such as HTML, XML, and Java. However, while IBM had hailed WDSc as a success--in large part because it was bundled with other system tools and shipped on 80 percent of new servers from IBM--the fact was not all programmers were happy with WDSc, and longed for the simpler days of PDM, SEU, and CODE/400.

Those grumblings were rewarded earlier this year when IBM, as expected, unveiled a slimmer, less feature-rich version of WDSc for those who don't require Java or XML capabilities. As an optional component of WDSc for iSeries version 6.01, WDSc Lite, which became available as a "technology preview" with the rest of the WDSc 6.01 family in February, contains only the core Eclipse development environment (which IBM renamed the Rational Software Development Platform) and Remote Systems Explorer (RSE), and does not included any of the Web, WebFacing, XML, and other tools contained in the full version of WDSc, thereby shrinking its minimum memory requirement from a full 1 GB to 256 MB. Users still must load the full WDSc for iSeries environment before they can load WDSc Lite, but once this has been completed, developers can switch back and forth between the two IDEs as their needs dictate.

Aldon says an important benefit of its technology is that it allows developers to take advantage of WebSphere's "team repository" approach as opposed to proprietary "perspective" approach. This provides a more uniform way of accessing objects, whether they're for Windows, OS/400, mainframe, Unix, Linux, or even OpenVMS platforms, and cuts down on additional training to understand the user interface, views presented, or functionality. "Even complex, multi-tier, cross platform projects, such as Web-centric or client/server applications, can be developed, tested and managed in a single WebSphere Studio session," the company says.

Daniel Magid, CEO of Aldon, foresees solid demand for the new IDE and the new plug-in. "The WDSC Lite is fast, easy to manage, and takes up less system resources than the full WebSphere workbench," he says. "It certainly represents an enticing, easy to install option for iSeries programmers, which is why it was so important for Aldon to deliver this plug-in. We're seeing great demand from current customers and prospects already."

Aldon's WDSc Lite plug-in is available now. It's included free of charge to all users of its Aldon Lifecycle Manager, iSeries Edition, product. For more information, visit www.aldon.com.