Alpha Five is a powerful database and Web applications server and development environment that has been around for many years and continues to get more powerful but not at the expense of ease of use.

We tested Alpha 5 v10 on a Windows XP running SP2 in February 2010.

There are numerous tutorials, along with documentation, copious code examples and videos:

• http://docs.google.com/View?id=d52ghw8_92f9r2m4dx
• http://www.ajaxvideotutorials.com/videos/help/01intro/
• http://65.75.250.238/webApplicationDemoV10/default/index.a5w

Alpha Five v10

http://alphasoftware.com/products/v10/

70 Blanchard Road,
Burlington, MA 01803
781.229.4500

Prices: Developer $349
Application Server $599, both for $799
Unlimited Runtime licenses $599
Windows XP or later required with at least IE v7 or Firefox 3.0

Symantec’s Altiris Workflow Solution v 6.0 is a series of products that were acquired from LogicBase called TLogic. Used together, they can help you automate virtually any IT process or workflow and imbed business logic into the processes too. The product can be useful for something that requires repetitive human interaction, such as designed an automated system for gambler’s comp packages at a casino to keeping track of cleaned rooms at a hospital. Almost any type of process or Workflow can be automated with Workflow Solution.

We tested the product in August 2008 on a prebuilt virtual machine that was supplied by Symantec.

AltirisSalesInfo@symantec.com, 888-252-5551

http://www.symantec.com

Requirements: Windows Server 2003 or later. Symantec’s Altiris Notification Server and several other Altiris SDK and developer tools (free)

Price: $25,000 for server and designer, additional designer licenses are $4,000 each
Category: Workflow management
Pros: Sophisticated models can be built with little programming expertise
Cons: There are a lot of moving parts to assemble before you can begin working

Servoy Developer is a Java enterprise rapid applications development environment. I have always thought of Java as write once and debug everywhere, but the Servoy tools are changing that with the ability to develop a single code base that can be deployed across Windows, Mac, Linux, and run in a wide variety of browsers too.

Next, download the Servoy .JAR package or use the EXE if you are running Vista. One nice thing is this is free and a fully functioning version with up to five licensed clients, what they call their community edition. It includes the application server, support for Eclipse. and a lightweight Web server too.

Servoy Developer v. 4.0

Pricing details: $895 plus $349 per concurrent client
Product category: Java app development enviroment
Servoy USA, 299 W. Hillcrest Drive Suite 115, Thousand Oaks, CA 91360
(805) 624-4959, http://www.servoy.com

Summary: Servoy has a lot to offer Java developers and a nice way to deploy multiuser Web 2.0 applications from a single code base.
Pros:
• All open source tools and methods here.
• A very rich visual programming environment that can quickly build apps.
Cons: There is a lot to get used to and the user interface is a bit hard to navigate.
General 4.0 Resources – Flash Movies, PDF Files, Reviewer Guide

http://www.servoy.com/generic.jsp?mt=396&taxonomy_id=790