Rational tools for Java application development

The complexity of Java application development can easily get in the way of your success. IBM Rational offers visual modeling and design products to manage and reduce the complexities of Java technology, to simplify Java application development, and to accelerate your adoption of the Java platform.

Rational provides tools for software developers and testers that ensure the quality of your Java code both early and later in the release cycle. We also provide other tools that are needed for any type of team-oriented software development project.

Our experience providing both depth and breadth of solutions allows you to realize the value of the Java platform and lets you get started with Java application development easier and sooner than ever.

With broad support for all roles and activities in the software life cycle, the IBM Software Delivery Platform, IBM Rational and IBM WebSphere products offer a comprehensive solution that lets you leverage Java to build, integrate, expand, modernize and deploy software.

Requirements and analysis tools:
This product category includes requirements management tools, business modeling, and data modeling tools.

• IBM Rational Requisite Pro A powerful, easy-to-use, and integrated product for requirements and use case management that promotes better communication, enhances teamwork, and reduces project risk.
• IBM Rational Functional Tester: An advanced, automated functional and regression testing tool for testers and GUI developers who need fine-grained control and flexibility for their testing of Java, Microsoft .NET, and Web-based applications.

Design and construction tools:
IBM Rational provides tools for architecture, design, modeling, construction, model-driven development, architected rapid application development (RAD), component testing, and runtime analysis activities. These tools help developers maximize their productivity when building business applications, software products and systems, and embedded systems and devices.

• IBM Rational Software Architect: A design and construction tool for software architects and senior developers creating applications for the Java platform or in C++ that leverages model-driven development with the UML and unifies all aspects of software application architecture.
• IBM Rational Software Modeler: A UML-based visual modeling and design tool for architects, system analysts, and designers who need to ensure that their specifications, architecture, and designs are clearly defined and communicated with their stakeholders.
• IBM Rational Web Developer for WebSphere Software: Build, test, and deploy Web, Web services, and Java applications with an IDE that is easy to learn and use.
• IBM Rational Application Developer for WebSphere Software: Quickly design, develop, analyze, test, profile, and deploy Web, Web services, Java, J2EE, and Portal applications with a comprehensive IDE.
• IBM Rational Rose Technical Developer: Supports the most advanced modeling constructs, including model execution and fully executable code generation, resulting in the highest levels of productivity.

Software quality tools:
Testing tools enable running quality assurance on software products, testing for code consistency, quality, functionality, and performance.

• IBM Rational Manual Tester: A manual test authoring and execution solution employing principles of automation, organization, and reuse to innovate a commonly used testing practice.
• IBM Rational Manual Tester: A manual test authoring and execution solution employing principles of automation, organization, and reuse to innovate a commonly used testing practice.
• IBM Rational Functional Tester: An advanced, automated functional and regression testing tool for testers and GUI developers who need fine-grained control and flexibility for their testing of Java, Microsoft .NET, and Web-based applications.
• IBM Rational Performance Tester: A performance test creation, execution, and analysis tool for teams validating the scalability and reliability of their Web-based applications before deployment.
• IBM Rational PurifyPlus: A dynamic analysis solution that allows developers to create faster, more reliable J2EE and J2SE code. It provides host-based memory profiling, performance profiling, and code coverage analysis.
• IBM Rational Test RealTime: A cross-platform solution that provides host-based memory profiling, performance profiling, runtime tracing, and code coverage analysis for the J2SE/J2ME developer. Rational Test RealTime also has an integration with JUnit to extend the value of the Java industry's popular unit testing tool to the J2ME and embedded marketplace.

Software configuration management (SCM) tools:
These products include change and version control, asset management, and defect tracking. Rational SCM support enables developers to work in their preferred integrated development environments (whether .NET, J2EE, or a combination of IDEs) while reducing the server-side costs.

• Rational SCM capabilities are provided by the IBM Rational ClearCase product family including Rational ClearCase for software asset management and IBM Rational ClearQuest for defect and change tracking. Rational ClearCase products support teams of any size, from small, co-located teams to globally distributed teams working in parallel.

Process and project management:
Lifecycle management is used to manage the development process, organize requirements, and measure development progress.

• The Rational Unified Process (RUP) is a software development process platform based on proven best practices that are configurable to your projects' needs. RUP emphasizes the development of models-semantically rich representations of the software system under development.
• Great Java software requires great teamwork. Rational's Java solution works hand-in-hand with the project management and software configuration management components of IBM Rational Suite to support your team from requirements to release. This essential team foundation spans the disciplines of process guidance, requirements management, change and defect tracking, configuration management, and test management. With it, you'll unify the extended team, ensure easy access to critical project information, and maximize the contribution of each team member.

IBM Rational also offers select products as part of an overall lifecycle solution targeted specifically to developers of software products and systems:

• IBM Rational Professional Bundle: Includes all the desktop tools your enterprise needs to design, construct, and test J2EE, Portal, .NET, Service-oriented applications on both Windows and Linux. The bundle provides a single purchase vehicle with just one maintenance contract to manage. It provides the greatest flexibility for the individual practitioner to install and use the tool(s) he needs to do his job. The tools in the bundle are architected for ease of adoption because all tools are installed inside an Eclipse-based application shell.
• IBM Rational Suite for Technical Developers: Provides a full lifecycle solution for writing very intricate code for some of the most challenging products and systems, such as real-time and embedded applications.