Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)It's as if the JBuilder 2008 developers took the approach that "if there's a plug-in we no longer have to provide it". And there is what appears to be a disregard for the pre-Eclipse users.
Starting with JBuilder 2007, the IDE is built on Eclipse, not the custom Java-based IDE found in prior versions. And that's the root of the problem.
I'm happy to blame part of this on my newbie status with Eclipse. But, I've been using JBuilder for years, from v4 to v2006. I have projects in JBuilder 2006 that can be edited, compiled, debugged, tested, and deployed as JAR files with all required libraries. In short, they (and the IDE environment) work just fine. But not in JBuilder 2008.
Claims of supporting prior JBuilder projects are inaccurate. Oh, it will import something that appears to be OK, but it won't run. To actually get it to run you have to dig through the hyper-complex Eclipse menus to find the execution directory, which has been helpfully reset to the Eclipse "workspace" instead of where the old JPX file set it.
Want a JAR file for deployment? Too bad, this ability has been removed. There's a non-intuitive File | Export | Java | JAR file "wizard", but in my test the perfectly operational, deployable pre-Eclipse app reports a compile failure, something about errors on the Build path. Thought that was all configured in the old JPX file? Too bad, that didn't make the "migration".
If I could get the JAR "wizard" to work I might still have problems. My research indicates that this method doesn't include any dependency libraries or external classes.
Want to actually include these dependencies in your JAR without the "wizard"? You are told that you can build an ANT script to do this for you. Never built an ANT script? Too bad, you're back to having to manually script something that has been automated in JBuilder since at least the start of the 21st century. JBuilder 2008 makes the "builder" in its name obsolete - you have to edit text scripts in the always easy XML format. Some folks love that hands-on flexibility, fine-tuning, get-exactly-what-you-want, build-it-yourself script. And some folks like to change their car's piston rings themselves, too. Others prefer to hire a mechanic since they don't have the time or desire to learn the intricacies of engine repair. That's what wizards are for, right? With JBuilder 2008 there is no choice, you have to rebuild the engine your own damn self.
Want to build a JAR file each time you build the project? Sorry, JAR building is now a manual event unless you now make the ANT script a build/JAR event instead of just JAR. Guess you can't use the built-in build process if you want the JAR at the same time and automatically. That was in JBuilder 2006. Guess nobody every really used it since it's gone now...
How about third party JAR builders? I tried one (the only one I found), that gives the helpful message "Chosen operation not currently available" when I run it. I suspect is an Eclipse plug-in support error, not the plug-in itself, but the vagueness doesn't help me decipher it.
As for the Eclipse IDE itself, at one point in the code editor pane I had TWO TABS OPEN FOR THE SAME FILE. Maybe this is a "feature" of Eclipse, but I can find no logical reason for it. One tab showed that it was unsaved, the other unchanged, both 99.99% identical. Could be something to do with the Eclipse "workspace", which insists in duplicating the carefully constructed pre-Eclipse directory environment for my app development and testing. So where are my actually code files? I haven't yet taken the time to find out which is the "real" file.
I know people who love Eclipse, and one guy tried to get me to use it a few years ago. I bailed on that attempt because it wanted me to totally abandon everything I knew in JBuilder. IMO Eclipse is "a jack of all trades, master of none."
I was hoping JBuilder 2008, with its JBuilder-plug-in would ease this learning curve. It might, but the loss of features from the pre-Eclipse versions is shocking.
Even minor ease-of-use stuff, like the Make and Rebuild Project buttons in JBuilder are gone. What happened to the status sounds - the "ding" with a good compile and a "boop" for failure? It's surprising how useful these are, and how much they are missed.
Distribution is foolish as well. CodeGear offers the trial Enterprise version and the free Turbo versions for download, both over 1gb in size. The two files are identical. The difference is the license key entered when launched. I wasted two days downloading the two versions after the Enterprise trial wouldn't register on their server. After the Turbo download I confirmed that both files were identical. Why two different downloads for the exact same 1gb+ file? There is no excuse.
JBuilder 2008 isn't an upgrade. If you are new to Java IDE's it may be acceptable, provided you have lots of time to write all your support ANT scripts to fill in the missing spots.
If you are a pre-Eclipse JBuilder user, stay far, far away from this "new" version. It's a major step backwards in both features and usefulness, and you will waste hours or days trying to shoehorn previously working Java apps into the Eclipse paradigm.
Want the last bit of salt in the wound? You can't get the pre-Eclipse versions anymore. Not ever the free ones. They've been scrubbed from the web. That's telling - they don't want you to even have the chance to move back to a truly functional version.
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