IBM is offering release 2 of its Rational Rapid Developer 2003 rapid application development environment. IBM says the update lets a wider range of non-J2EE-savvy developers build applications quickly.
The tool provides a visual, model-driven approach to development, with release 2 letting you design, build, and deploy portlets to IBM WebSphere Portal.
Visual modeling and automated code construction capabilities help developers create enterprise-grade J2EE applications and portals, IBM says.
Using visual, services-oriented techniques, Rational Rapid Developer also lets you discover and use legacy assets via the Java Connector Architecture (JCA), a Java standard for connecting different information sources.
Existing Rapid Developer customers can get the update free of charge. For new customers, IBM Rational Rapid Developer 2003 release 2 costs US$6,595 per floating license.
For more information on Rapid Developer's portal capabilities, see "WebSphere Portal Server Development with IBM Rational Rapid Developer" at http://Advisor.com/doc/13171.