Halcyon Software has released a beta release of its iHUB product, a middleware solution that enables cross-integration and cross-development between Microsoft .NET, Windows, J2EE and XML-based applications. And since it is a middleware for Java/.NET, Mac OS X is supported.
In a world where 90 percent of the medium to large organizations use a mixture of Microsoft and Java in their development and deployment environment, building a true enterprise system means integrating multiple operational departments and heterogeneous computing environments, according to Naufal Khan, Halcyon’s VP of engineering. J2EE and .NET are the two major contenders in the enterprise application framework arena. iHUB offers seamless integration between the two platforms, providing developers the best of both the worlds, Khan said.
Using iHUB, a Web Form (.NET) can access an EJB (J2EE) that may be hosted under any application server on a non-Windows machine halfway across the world, he added. Similarly a JSP (Java Server Pages) application on an S/390 mainframe can embed and utilize a .NET CLR object as if it were a local JavaBean component.
The initial framework integration support includes J2EE, .NET and legacy Windows technologies such as COM/DCOM, MTS, ActiveX and DLLs. Furthermore, iHUB comes with a full service XML bridge that provides simplified XML parsing with a high-speed network layer, Khan said. iHUB provides framework integration by taking the .NET Remoting concept and making it cross-platform. It includes a Java implementation of the Remoting infrastructure, allowing J2EE and .NET to come together relatively painlessly.
A free evaluation download of the iHUB beta release is available at the Halcyon Web site. “Early Adopter” pricing is US$50 per client, and the server is offered for free. Also, Halcyon is seeking strategic partners and investors to participate in its iHUB commercial launch.