Enhydra can help developers of Internet based applications in a
variety of ways, but it does not pretend to do everything. Things
that Enhydra is not:
Ø An Integrated Development
Environment (IDE). Enhydra does not include its own Java, HTML, or
WML editors. It is, however, capable of integrating with some IDEs.
The Kelp Working Group is adding functionality towards this goal.
(http://www.enhydra.org/community/workingGroups/Kelp.html)
Currently supported IDEs are JBuilder and Oracle JDeveloper.
Ø A Java compiler. JDK 1.1 or
higher must be installed to develop and run Enhydra applications,
and it is recommended to have 1.2 installed, as the 1.1 family does
feature some bugs that can cause problems in the administration
program.
Ø A point and click solution.
Enhydra gives you the tools and framework to build robust
applications - it is up to you to architect and build those
solutions.
You may be wondering what limitations Enhydra puts on your
development. I know that many of the application servers I have
worked with prior to my Enhydra experience limit you in a variety
of ways, and I won't lie to you and say that Enhydra doesn't do
this in some manner, but I will say that it does it less than most
of them. The fact that Enhydra is open source does not detract from
its capabilities or stability.
Enhydra has all of the features of other major application
servers I've used, and then some. The fact that there are no
licensing fees charged for the software allows you to try it out
and see for yourself without any monetary commitment. The largest
advantage Enhydra has over its closed source brethren is the ease
with which you can determine whether a problem with your
application is due to your code or that of Enhydra. The advantage
for the rest of the world is that if you do find a problem with
Enhydra and submit the fix back to the community, others won't have
the same problems you did. Remember, this process often works to
your advantage as well.
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