Next-generation Sun WorkShop aims to cut development time and boost software quality -- even more Among the new features, programmers and test engineers get 3D data visualization, GUI testing, and reengineering tools By Stephen Lawton

January  1997

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Jon Williams, group marketing manager for SunSoft, characterized the upgrades to Sun's Visual WorkShop for C++ 3.0 and Performance WorkShop for Fortran 3.0 as a "usability release." He told SunWorld that the goal was to make it faster and easier for developers working with the popular programming languages, including Fortran, C/C++, and Pascal.

While both packages have some of the same components, Visual Workshop is designed for the applications programmer and adds a GUI builder and C++ tools, while the Performance Workshop is designed for test engineers and those more concerned with optimizing software. In conjunction with the WorkShop upgrades, Sun released WorkShop TeamWare 2.0, a configuration management package that is bundled with the WorkShop offerings, and is also being sold as a stand-alone package.

Among the added features in the WorkShop upgrades are:

• Data visualization: the debugger now provides 3D visualization capability that allows developers to see what happens to data while the program executes
• Distributed make: the ability to rebuild only that part of the code that changes during development and testing
• Choice of editors: the packages include vi, emacs, and Xemacs with hyperlinks for editing, error and source browsing, and referencing
• Improved C/C++ and Fortran compilers

New features added to the Visual GUI builder include:

• AppGuru: a "wizard-like" feature that provides what the company calls a "zero-to-application" development time due to built-in help and software modules
• GUI testing and problem recreation tools
• GUI reengineering: a tool that takes existing Motif/Xt GUIs and essentially converts them to the Visual GUI builder model, allowing the developer to modify a user interface even if the source code is unknown

Speeding time to market
Using the GUI creation tool, Williams says, a developer can create the front-end for a Unix and Windows NT application using a single design document.

The testing tools in the Visual Workshop package permit the developer to test code while it's being developed, much like a Web developer can check hot links before a Web page is deployed. By reducing errors before code goes to the quality control department, he says, applications can be completed in a fraction of the time.

The packages also allow developers to create programs for multiprocessor/multithreaded environments. In a single-processor environment, he says, threads will help keep the I/O lines from becoming saturated.

Tools provided in the performance package allow users to run existing code through an auto-parallelization algorithm, which then displays how the code can be modified to improve performance. In cases where the code cannot be parallelized, Williams says, the program identifies the barrier and allows the programmer to override it, thus permitting the parallelization program to further speed up the process. In some cases, Williams says, the auto-parallelization tool will identify a situation the developer might not have known existed.

While many of the features found in the WorkShop also are available from other vendors, Williams says the integration of all the features is less common. Instead, he says, it is more common to buy the performance tools separately from the GUI testing and reengineering tools, and the runtime error checking tool as yet another separate purchase.

List price for the Visual WorkShop for C++ or Performance WorkShop for Fortran is $3,495, with upgrades priced at $1,095. A competitive upgrade for the Visual WorkShop product for Hewlett-Packard and Centerline users is $1,995, although Williams says he does not expect this option to have many takers. Centerline, he says, asked Sun to offer the upgrade due to Centerline's move out of the tools business and its focus on the testing business. This upgrade will be used to support existing customers. Workshop TeamWare lists for $1,295 with upgrades priced at $340. The packages also are available through Sun's Try-and-Buy Web site. All products are currently being shipped.

A WorkShop University Edition, which includes Visual WorkShop C++, Fortran 77 and Fortran 90 compilers, the performance library, and a Pascal compiler, is also offered with a domain-based license. Universities are recommended to contact Sun for details.

--Stephen Lawton

Resources

• Performance WorkShop for Fortran
  http://www.sun.com/workshop/literature/ProductGuide/SWP.SW/WS_F90.html
• Visual WorkShop for C++
  http://www.sun.com/workshop/literature/ProductGuide/SWP.SW/WS_CPL.html
• Sun's Try-and-Buy site
  http://www.sun.com/workshop/

If you have technical problems with this magazine, contact webmaster@sunworld.com

URL: http://www.sunworld.com/swol-01-1997/swol-01-workshop.html
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