FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Press Contact:
Judith Steinbaum
Roaster Technologies
617-876-4031 x1818
judith@roaster.com
Roaster Release 4 Product Family: All Java — Cross Platform and Extensible
November 14, 1997. Cambridge, Massachusetts. With its first announcement of
detailed information regarding the eagerly awaited Roaster(r) Release 4,
Roaster Technologies revealed that the new release is written entirely in
Java(tm), utilizes the Java(tm) Foundation Classes, and is the basis for
its Data and Enterprise Editions. Release 4 is the cornerstone of the
extended Roaster family of development software for high-end professional
developers working in Java. The environment is completely extensible,
enabling the integration of a wide variety of technologies.
“Roaster Release 4 represents a major innovation in the field of Java
IDE’s,” noted John Dhabolt, President and CEO of Roaster Technologies.
“This product is the foundation of a substantial and extensible
architecture which offers technological innovations within a modular
environment. Using this family will dramatically increase the creativity,
the power, and the productivity of any developer.”
Roaster Develops Roaster!
The Release 4 project was originally started using Roaster Release 3 on the
Macintosh, heavily utilizing the Internet Foundation Classes from Netscape.
“The engineers at Roaster Technologies completely bootstrapped the
development of Release 4, literally using Roaster to develop Roaster,”
Dhabolt explained. As the project evolved, Roaster Technologies took the
next step – using the maturing Release 4 Java version to continue
development under Windows, JDK(tm) 1.1 and the Java Foundation Classes.
“Through taking this approach,” Dhabolt added, “we were able to capitalize
on the cross-platform promise of Java to develop a single source-base, and
then seamlessly transfer the development from one platform to another.”
“We are pleased to see today’s announcement from Roaster Technologies,”
said Dr. Lew Tucker, director of developer relations at Sun Microsystems’
JavaSoft division. “Roaster Release 4 illustrates the power of Java, which
is critical to developers who wish to capitilize on Java’s ‘Write Once Run
Anywhere(tm)’ proposition.”
Based on JDK 1.1 and Java Foundation Classes
Roaster is one of the first Java development environments to be written
entirely in Java, based on JDK 1.1 and written utilizing the Java
Foundation Classes. This support gives Roaster users a consistent
development experience across all major operating system platforms.
Apple and Roaster
Clarifying Roaster Technologies’ commitment to the Macintosh, Dhabolt was
delighted with Apple’s announcement about opening its Operating Systems to
Java, its impressive advances in MRJ 2.0, and re-iterated that “all Roaster
products will be supported under MacOS 8 and Rhapsody.”
Data and Enterprise Editions
Regarding the Data and Enterprise editions, Dhabolt described them as
“another first in development tools, in that the developer is given the
security that the software will not be outdated, but rather, can continue
to expand to provide the flexibility and stability critical to this
industry.” He added that one might consider these editions almost as
pre-packaged solutions of individual modules. “These are the ‘cousins,’ of
the family, currently in development, which will extend the power of the
developer simply through the addition of modules, wizards, and third-party
solutions to the Release 4 foundation.”
Pricing and Availability
Roaster Release 4 is scheduled to ship at the end of Q1, 1998. The public
beta release is scheduled for January. Release 4 will sell for $99. All
registered Roaster Release 3 owners will be able to upgrade to Release 4
for only $49.
Release 3 is currently available for $99. Corporate and Educational site
licensing options are available.
Ed. Note: Roaster products products are available through DevDepot
(http://www.devdepot.com), mailto:orders@devdepot.com, Toll free:
800-MACDEV-1, Outside US/Canada: 805-494-9797, Fax: 805-494-9798.
Overview of Release 4 Technical Features
Extensible
Release 4 can easily support new technologies through the extensibility of
the development environment. This enables Roaster Technologies,
third-parties or end-users to easily integrate new features. Many parts of
the development environment include Java API’s to access custom features
from Java.
* Plug-in architecture to customize Roaster at startup
* Plug-in compilers
* Wizards
* Preferences
* GUI-builders
* Toolbar tools
* New menus or existing menus with new functionality
* Custom control over the editor
* Customized file support
* Integration of third-party applications as modules
New Source Editing Views
Release 4 will give developers the option of working with the editor in an
encapsulated ObjectView, or the standard full source view. The ObjectView
allows the developer to focus working on each Java class or method
separately, while the full source view allows the developer the freedom of
working with the entire Java source file at once. This can be set through a
global preference as a default setting, or switched on-the-fly when using
the ObjectView.
Extended Javadoc support
Javadoc is treated as a first class citizen in Release 4. By placing the
Javadoc comments in a separate editor, Release 4 makes the utilization of
Javadoc comments as easy as typing your comments in a standard text editor.
In addition, Wizards will help prompt the developer for the appropriate
additional Javadoc tags if necessary. Of course the Javadoc comments are
fully visible alongside the appropriate code section at all times.
By clicking a preview button, developers will be able to preview the
Javadoc in fully rendered HTML. In the ObjectView the Javadoc is rendered
for the class or method currently being modified, allowing the developer to
focus on the task at hand.
In addition to the preview of Javadoc comments, users will also be able to
browse the comments on the fly. When in preview mode, the “see also” and
other appropriate links become hot links that take the developer to the
desired class or method. Back and Forward buttons allow fully interactive
browsing of the source code and comments.
Of equal importance to Java developers, is the fact that the actual
physical documentation created by Release 4 is placed in a hierarchical
folder structure, so Macintosh and other Java developers don’t run into the
standard file length limitation issues. Optionally, 8.3 filenames can be
generated.
World-class debugger
Release 4 will allow debugging into multiple projects simultaneously. In
addition, developers will be able to combine this feature with the ability
to debug remotely for powerful distributed computing debugging.
RoasterBuilder
Release 4 will include an integrated JavaBeans(tm) builder to facilitate
working graphically with JavaBeans and other components.
Standard Features
Those already familiar with Roaster Release 3 will be pleased to find the
inclusion of the following world-class features already found in Roaster:
Project window for file organization, class tree and class browser,
context-sensitive online help, powerful Find and Search/Replace Mechanism,
the QuickCode toolbar to create a very powerful editing experience, Zip
file creation, JAR file creation, and much more.
Awards
— World Class Award (Java Developers Journal, July 1997)
— World Class Award Finalist (Macworld, 1997)
— 4 out of 5 Stars (Macworld, October 1996)
— 4 out of 5 Stars (Macworld, May 1996)
— 4.5 out of 5 Coffee Cups (Java Report, March/April 1996)
Recent Press And User Comments
— “I’d recommend Roaster as my first choice tool for professional
Java-only development.” (JavaWorld, September 1997)
— “… if you’re professionally committed to producing high-end Java
applications, especially those involving database access, Roaster Release 3
is the most powerful Java tool set you can buy for the Mac.” (Macworld,
September 1997)
–“Conclusion: Roaster Release 3 is perfect for professional Java
development.” (Java Developers Journal, July 1997)
— “It’s much more mature than other MacOS Java development tools.”
(“Webintosh” June 1997)
— “I will be contacting everyone I know with a Mac, urging him or her to
buy Roaster Release 3. My experience shows it is the cleanest, most
rock-solid Java development environment available. And how could anyone
resist all the bundled goodies and the low introductory price?” (‘Uncle
Dave’ – David Moffat, May, 1997)
About Roaster Technologies
Roaster Technologies, Inc. is dedicated to providing software products
targeted to Java developers. Its first product, Roaster, the pioneering
Integrated Development Environment for Java on the Macintosh, continues to
receive high praise from industry press and Java developers, including a
World Class Award from Java Developers Journal in July of 1997, and a
finalist award in the 1997 Macworld World Class Award competition. Further
information about Roaster Technologies is available from info@roaster.com,
or can found on the web at http://www.roaster.com/.