Software lets visual studio developers code in .NET 2.0.
Press Release Summary:
Available in Developer, Enterprise, and Portal editions, Mainsoft for Java(TM) EE v2.0 lets .NET developers produce .NET Web and server applications that run on Linux and other Java-enabled platforms without rewriting code or learning new development skills. Suite of products offers support for Microsoft® Visual Studio® 2005 IDE, .NET Framework v2.0, ASP.NET v2.0 controls, role-based security, and C# generics.
Original Press Release:
Mainsoft Releases .NET 2.0-Java Interoperability Product Suite, Enabling Visual Studio Developers to Code in .NET 2.0, Build for Java & Run Linux
ORLANDO, Fla., June 6 - Tech Ed 2007 - Mainsoft(R) Corporation, a leading .NET-Java EE interoperability company, today announced the release of Mainsoft for Java(TM) EE, version 2.0, (formerly called Visual MainWin(R) for J2EE), a suite of products that enables .NET developers to produce .NET Web and server applications that run on Linux and other Java-enabled platforms, without having to rewrite their code or learn new development skills. Version 2.0 introduces support for Microsoft's(R) Visual Studio(R) 2005 IDE, the .NET Framework 2.0, ASP.NET 2.0 controls, role-based security, and C# generics.
"Mainsoft's cross-compilation software establishes C# 2.0 and Visual Basic(R) as fully supported languages by the Java Virtual Machine," said Yaacov Cohen, president and CEO of Mainsoft. "We've invested $12 million in technology that transforms Java EE into a multi-lingual platform. Our enterprise customers and software vendors de-couple development decisions from their production decisions, using the highly productive Visual Studio IDE for rapid application development and Java EE servers or portal servers for highly secure, scalable deployments."
Mainsoft for Java EE is the result of the company's four-year collaboration with Mono. Sponsored by Novell, the open source development initiative is developing an open source, multi-platform version of the Microsoft .NET (.NET 1.1 and .NET 2.0) technologies.
Cross-Platform .NET 2.0 in Practice
Since September 2006, when Mainsoft released its 2.0 Technology Preview, thousands of .NET developers have piloted Mainsoft's 2.0 technologies, integrating advanced .NET 2.0 and Java technologies into unified open source deployments:
- During the "Race to Linux 2.0," Hector Armando Rodriguez Esparza, a software developer from Mexico, used Mainsoft's Grasshopper 2.0 Technology Preview and the Visual Studio 2005 IDE to port Microsoft's Small Business Site Starter Kit to run on Linux in less than four hours. More than 600 developers joined the international developer competition to take open source .NET applications to run on Linux.
- Urix, Inc., an industry leading predictive modeling software company and Mainsoft customer since 2005, is using the Visual Studio 2005 IDE and Mainsoft software v 2.0 to extend its proprietary logic and analytics calculation engine to open systems, without having to rewrite more than 150,000 lines of C# code in Java. According to Atul Mistry, vice president of technology, Urix, Inc., "Mainsoft enables our in-house .NET development team to focus on core product innovations, without having to worry about the added costs and complexities associated with maintaining separate code bases." A Mainsoft customer since 2005, Urix' software is currently running on Java EE servers and UNIX at many of the largest US healthcare insurance companies.
- Janison, an Australian e-Learning technology company, recently purchased Mainsoft for Java EE v. 2.0 to customize and localize its e-Learning software, written end-to-end in .NET, for the Department of Vocational Education in Vietnam. The department contracted Janison to deliver .NET and UNIX deployments by the end of 2007. According to Wayne Houlden, Managing Director, "In the past, our decision to build our software in .NET limited our ability to compete for some e-Learning contracts with educational institutions where they required their application to be able to run on Windows or UNIX platforms. Using Mainsoft for Java EE and Visual Studio 2005, we are free to extend our existing .NET systems and skill sets to multiple platforms and support customers that use open systems."
- Opal Future Technologies, a $20 billion pension fund management company based in Israel, chose Mainsoft for Java EE, Portal Edition, to consolidate eight pension funds and dozens of .NET and Java support services into a unified system that runs on IBM WebSphere Portal. Opal's .NET development team used Visual Studio to integrate several .NET services in a matter of weeks, rewriting less than one percent of the code. According to Alex Libis, information and data security manager of Opal, "Rewriting the .NET applications in Java would have taken at least 18 months, and introduced unacceptable risk. Using Mainsoft's software, our existing .NET team quickly achieved native integration with other Java EE portlets, without sacrificing performance."
What's New in Mainsoft For Java EE
Mainsoft for Java EE, v. 2.0 is available in three editions:
- The Developer Edition (a.k.a. Grasshopper 2.0) is freely available and designed for individual developers and small group deployments on Apache Tomcat. It includes development and runtime licenses free-of-charge and enables developers to create Web projects using advanced .NET 2.0 functionalities such as out-of-the box ASP.NET 2.0 authentication; authorization with a pure Java datastore for membership, roles and profiles; and ASP.NET 2.0 controls, including master pages, login control, wizard, themes, and data controls such as GridView. To support multi-platform deployments, Grasshopper 2.0 comes bundled with the Apache Derby database, a highly portable database with a pure Java runtime. To speed the debugging process, developers can use the Visual Studio 2005 debugger to attach the Web application to Java and control its execution.
- The Enterprise Edition is designed for enterprise developers and multi-CPU deployments. It includes an integrated development support for IBM WebSphere(R) Application Server and Tomcat; the ability to deploy to standard Java EE servers such as JBoss and BEA WebLogic(R); multi-CPU capabilities; and the ability to programmatically interact with native Java class libraries and directly invoke their class methods.
- The Portal Edition enables enterprises to populate Java EE portals such as IBM WebSphere Portal with ASP.NET 2.0 applications and services, such as SQL 2005 Reporting Services, in a tightly integrated Front-End Service Oriented Architecture. Using Mainsoft for Java EE, Portal Edition, .NET developers produce standards-compliant Java portlets that run locally on the Java EE portal, delivering a rich and well-integrated end-user environment, with role-based, personalized interfaces, single sign-on, unified navigation, inter-portlet communications, and other portal services.
Mono and Open Source .NET
"Over the last four years, Mainsoft has been a significant contributor to the Mono project," said Miguel de Icaza, vice president of developer platforms, Novell and the leader of the Mono project. "The team's expertise in the .NET 1.1 and 2.0 development platforms and their expertise in open systems have expedited our shared goal of making it easier to run Windows applications seamlessly on Linux."
About Mainsoft Corporation
Founded in 1993, Mainsoft Corporation is a leading provider of .NET/Java EE interoperability solutions. The company's product suite and services enable businesses to deliver a complete front-end Service Oriented Architecture (SOA), with secure, role-based access to .NET and Java services. Currently, Mainsoft is helping more than 150 businesses deploy Windows applications natively on open systems, including WebSphere Portal and WebSphere Application Server as well as on the UNIX and Linux operating systems. For more information about Mainsoft, visit http://www.mainsoft.com/.
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