list of open source software for developers

According to the numbers on the Adobe Web site, the penetration rate for Flash 9 (the latest version) is about 90 percent for all markets worldwide. RIAs written in Flash have nearly pixel-for-pixel compatibility across all major platforms and browsers, delivering on the promise of 'write once, run everywhere' that Java Swing once claimed. Both approaches are gaining wide adoption, and we recognize leaders in both camps here.įlash applications overcome an important limitation of AJAX applications, which are susceptible to cross-browser incompatibilities. Each of these approaches has pros and cons. Rich Internet applications (RIA), which bring a desktop-like experience to browser-based applications, fall into two camps: those employing DHTML, as most AJAX toolkits do, and those employing Flash as the presentation layer within the browser. For its commitment to quality over quantity and for the courage to rip and replace modules to improve developer productivity, we salute the NetBeans team and its stellar IDE. This year, NetBeans had the courage to completely redesign the code-editing experience to emulate the most user-friendly editor available for Java (IntelliJ) - resulting in a greatly improved user experience. It works to provide top-of-the-line plug-ins (its Matisse GUI designer, performance profiler, and online collaboration tools are category leaders) and to integrate them seamlessly into the IDE. The 'ever more functionality' approach has provided lots of tools, but at the cost of bloat and a dearth of refinement of the editing experience.īy contrast, NetBeans has hewn closely to the vision of a lightweight, responsive, and easily configurable IDE. The Web is rife with articles by users, even advanced users, flummoxed by their inability to add, modify, or remove plug-ins. The result has been an IDE that is first to market with many products but that has an undeniably heavy feel. For the last two years, Eclipse has adopted a model of a platform, rather than an IDE - that is, a base framework for dozens, if not hundreds, of plug-ins supplied by partners. However, on innovation, things are not so clear. In the open source IDE sector, the Eclipse-NetBeans rivalry was won long ago by Eclipse if all you count is market share. But we're more than ready to declare winners of the open source sweepstakes in IDEs, rich Internet apps, AJAX toolkits, and continuous integration, all areas where open source 'alternatives' meet or beat their commercial counterparts. Well, actually, no (see the sidebar, ' Best open source programming language ').

List of open source software for developers