JSE spans the entire life cycle of building, debugging, testing, deploying, and tuning Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EE) applications, including portal components and Web services. More than simply a development tool set, it is designed to simplify the increasingly complex task of software programming.

This release, Sun designed to install as a single unit. The integrated tools and services need no separate installations or configurations. All told, JSE 7 was created to act intuitively with developers. The property windows clearly display object qualities, and wizards are used liberally to guide users through tasks with clear feedback messages. Also, files can be dragged and dropped between task-oriented windows.

Incorporating the Unified Modeling Language (UML) complies with the latest standards of UML and its upcoming 2.0 specification. It lends efficiency to software architecture and code generation. Developers are able to work in three modes: analysis, design, and implementation. The interface for the diagrams, objects, attributes, and relationships makes for smart navigation and code manipulation.

Chris Atwood, Sun JSE director of engineering, said, "There's a set of enterprise developers that actually need UML capabilities for documentation purposes and also the trend for leveraging partners for development and the increasing need for having an architecture and design specified."

To help development efforts, Sun included in JSE 7 an instant messaging tool, called code-aware instant messaging (IM). Like a mini-IDE window, the chat window features syntax coloring, code completion and documentation pop-ups for Java, XML, or HTML formats. A real-time file sharing component allows for the simultaneous editing of the same file, producing a warning when two people work on the same region of code. In addition, the chat window is fully code-aware; code completion and unobtrusive Javadoc pop-up windows provide easy reference points for communicating ideas.

Deliberate efforts were made to improve performance tuning as well. With JSE 7, applications can be fine-tuned using an integrated profiler, called Enterprise Application Profiler, accompanied by a load generator. Enterprise Application Profiler captures the application's transaction details and presents them in tabular or graphical form. Data can be saved, changed, or redisplayed, valuable features for subsequent load generation and testing.

Another benefit is the use of refractoring, which allows large code bases to be maintained. Code components can be renamed, which makes identifying code components easier. Moreover, the occurrences of renamed components can be revised, and the code base can be inspected with the find capabilities; or code can be optimized by extracting program constructs.

Two other tools included with the release include, Sun Java Studio Web Application Framework, a graphical environment that comprises reusable parts for building scalable J2EE applications. Of note is the Model-View-Controller (MVC) design pattern that distinguishes an application's presentation logic from its business logic, and Portlet Builder, a plug-in for creating portal components based on the JavaServer Pages JSP) technology in compliance with Java Specification Request (JSR) 168.

Pricing on JSE 7 depends on whether the company is a customer. A new license will run $1,895 (either on CD or with the download), while an upgrade costs $995. A subscription license of $5 extends to individual employee use, with a minimum of 1,000 employees. Sun is running a promotion until June 30, 2005, that allows companies to buy a bundled JSE 7 (upgrade) and Java Studio Creator license for $995.

JSE 7 is available on the Windows, Solaris 8 and 9 (SPARC platform), and Solaris 9 (x86 platform) operating systems.