John O'Conner's Blog

Solaris for Java development?

I'm a long-time Windows user. You just really can't deny that the install experience is good, that hardware drivers are easily accessible, and there are lots and lots of applications. And stability has improved over the years.

I suppose it's only natural that the Windows OS has become my de-facto host for practically all development. In the last year, I've experimented with Mac OS X. The lack of an up-to-date Java Development Kit (JDK) prevents me from using my MacBook Pro as anything more than a nice writing tool. When it comes right down to it, I always go back to my Windows desktop when I want to do much Java development. The JDK is there, all my tools are there. Mac OS X is pretty, seems stable enough, and has great apps too, but I'm frustrated with the fact that I can't really get my favorite development tools running properly. For me that's the latest JDK and NetBeans 5.5.1. Now, of course, I'm looking at NetBeans 6.0, and I'm starting to use it more. These run great on Windows. Have you tried running NB 6 on Mac OS X using Java SE 6? Good luck! This combination doesn't really work for me. However, NB 6 does run great with Java SE 5 on Mac OS X.

So, I'm reconsidering my development platform options so that I get all the best tools with the latest JDK. I know Windows is available, but what else is there? I've tried Ubuntu Linux...that was a good experience for the most part. I've tried Solaris before...with mixed results. I prefer using a laptop computer for most of my work. For that, I've been most successful using Windows, sometimes Ubuntu Linux.

Considering all the tool support, I'm really interested in Solaris again. I noticed that a new version was released yesterday, Solaris Express Developer Edition 9/07. It has a new installer that includes drivers for more wireless cards. That seemed to be one of the big hindrances in the past. I know the latest JDK will be there, and NetBeans IDE too. So that's already two big pros to consider.

I've decided to give Solaris another try. There are plenty of other great developer tools included too. I still have limited hardware options -- an old Sony Vaio laptop, but I'll give it my best effort. I'll let you know how it goes.

And by the way, no I haven't forgotten about JavaFX Script. I'm still working with that too, and I'll put out another Learning Curve Journal soon. I have to hook up that UI to some functionality at some point.

Comments

• Hi John - NetBeans 6 does not require JDK 6, and on OSX it's definitely not recommended - use Java SE 5 instead. (Going to other OS'es where Java 6 works properly is a good idea, just pointing out that if you're using OSX, don't limit yourself to NetBeans 5.5.1.)

  Posted by: tnorbye on September 25, 2007 at 12:28 PM

• I too have been thinking about switching to Solaris for Java development. I'm thinking about getting a Sun Ultra 20 M2 workstation with Solaris Express Developer Edition, JDK6, NetBeans 6, SJSAS 9.1, etc. I'd also like to get an iMac for Adobe Creative Suite Web Premium Edition.

  From my limited experience with Solaris Express builds, it is very similar to Ubuntu. A lot of the features that I thought were Ubuntu features were really Gnome features. I think if you can get past the installation hurdle, then Solaris now offers everything you need. My biggest complaint about Solaris is package management, but that is being re-designed.

  Posted by: rdelaplante on September 25, 2007 at 01:32 PM

• If you're opting for Solaris as a development platform you should try to avoid Solaris x86. My experience is that a lot of tools and vendors assumes Solaris == SPARC and don't release Solaris/x86 versions.

  And if you'd like to try Eclipse, you're in for another challenge. The latest released Eclipse for Solaris x86 is 3.2, and 3.3 is impossible to even build from source.. :-(

  Posted by: asgeirn on September 26, 2007 at 12:34 AM

• 
  If you're thinking about getting an iMac and a Sun Ultra, then I'd think long and hard about simply getting a Mac Pro, and running Solaris in a VM underneath VMWare or Parallels.

  Solaris seems to run pretty well in that environment (though I don't do it extensively, and mostly just for server applications rather than the GUI).
  But it's worth considering. The Mac Pro has 4 cores on it, so there's ample horsepower for this kind of configuration, lots of room for memory, and you get a machine with great ergonomics (it's really quiet, easy to get in to the case for common things, etc.). And you'll save money over an iMac and a Sun Ultra.
  In todays age of VMs, barring dedicated server applications (which frankly should be outsourced), there's few reasons today to buy a new machine, when you can get a "new machine" for the cost of another stick of RAM
  

  Posted by: whartung on September 26, 2007 at 02:52 PM

• I used to work on Solaris 10 (FCS!!) with JDS on an ultra 20 (1G RAM, single core Opteron). Used to run NetBeans 5.5 on Java SE 5. I'm yet to find a better development environment than that.

  Posted by: bharathch on September 27, 2007 at 07:55 AM

• I'm currently using an Ultra 20 with SXDE, NetBeans (both 5.5.1 and 6.0 beta) and Glassfish at home. It's a much more productive environment for me, given its Unix base. I'm not sure a Windows user would see the same benefit, but if you're used to developing under Unix then you won't be disappointed. If you can find an older Ultra 20, dual-core processors are currently ~US$150, it might be worthwhile to get one of those and upgrade.

  I'm not sure what kind of tools you're looking at; NetBeans and Glassfish support most of the latest Java technologies, but commercial tools (ER/Studio, XMLSpy, etc.) are not commonly available for Solaris (and SXDE is a moving target, so it's even worse).

  Posted by: tmnelson on September 27, 2007 at 10:40 AM

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.