Oracle Enterprise Pack for Eclipse plugin suite supports SOA component development and FastSwap feature to help in development and deployment of Java applications on Oracle WebLogic Server 10g R3 version using Eclipse 3.4 IDE. Oracle recently announced the availability of Oracle Enterprise Pack Version 1.0 as a new component of its Fusion Middleware product.
The Enterprise Pack is a set of Eclipse plug-ins that can be used for Database, Java, Java EE application development and deployment on Oracle WebLogic Server. With Oracle Enterprise Pack for Eclipse, Java developers can develop, debug and deploy applications to Oracle WebLogic Server 10g R3, in addition to earlier versions, either locally or remotely. The tool also includes features to enable the development, assembly, build, deployment, debugging, and testing of Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) based applications.
The tool supports new development features of Oracle WebLogic Server including FastSwap and the ability to redefine Java classes without redeployment. FastSwap feature gives developers the ability to update Java class files and have those changes take effect immediately on the application under development, without having to restart the application server. Its design is based on a "change-aware classloader" which allows the developers to deploy the code changes in a single class or set of classes without any loss of application state at run-time. When a class changes, the system automatically loads the new class and the application state is maintained in the running application.
Oracle Enterprise Pack will support development with technologies including JEE, Java SE, JavaServer Faces (JSF), Web Services, XML, Spring Framework, Struts, Database Development, and CSS & Javascript. It will be the basis for Oracle's Eclipse support, combining Java EE development features of Oracle Workshop for WebLogic which extends Eclipse Web Tools Platform for development of Web Services, Object Relational Mapping (ORM), Apache Beehive, and Web Applications.
Oracle, a Strategic Developer Member in Eclipse Foundation Board, also leads in the following Eclipse projects:
- JavaServer Faces (JSF Tools)
- Java Persistence API (Dali JPA Tools)
- Business Process Management (BPEL Tools)
- Eclipse Data Tools Platform (DTP) and
- Eclipse Persistence Services Project (EclipseLink)
Oracle Enterprise Pack Version 1.0 supports JDK 5 and JDK 6 versions and is available for download on Oracle website. The Technical Information and Documentation sections on the website have more information on how to use the Eclipse plugin. The tool has a wizard based feature to define WebLogic Runtime configuration by specifying WebLogic Home directory location and other server details.
WebLogic Server 10g R3, released by Oracle last month, includes several interesting new features like Lightweight Installation, HTTP Pub/Sub Server, and Optional Services Startup which were covered in detail on InfoQ.
