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Rating: 
Summary: Its the IDE
Review: As a Software Engineer, I got in touch with the IBM Visual Age series three years ago - IBM Visual Age for Smalltalk. SmallTalk was used (and is still in use) especially for server-client applications in the finance sector due to its strong object-oriented capabilities and its outstanding version management system.
However, IBM followed the SmallTalk IDE concept and made it even better: IBM Visual Age for Java.
Since I don't want to discuss Java features in this context, I focus on the IDE itself. I also will ignore the visual programming features - simply because it is rarely used in the industry. What is to say about such a complex application like this Integrated Development Environment?1)Repository concept: The source code is structured into packages and classes/interfaces. Also the class itself is structured by its members, the fields and methods. The smallest unit stored in the version database is the method. Want to restore just the method getBestIDE() { return "IBM VA JAVA"; } from for 2 weeks ago? No problem, open the class in a dedicated class browser, double-click on the method, select the version tab and select it by last modification date. Any questions? Compare with JBuilder / file based version management systems. 2)All time consistency: Since the method of a class is the smallest unit of structured statements, it is compiled by the compiler immediately when you finish the edit and therefore kept consistent. If you insist of saving an obviously faulty method (syntax AND partly semantics), VA for Java tags the method and the class with a small icon as an error within the class hierarchy browser. Needless to say that you cannot execute it. 3)Industries best debugger: Set breakpoints wherever you want. Need conditions regarding the execution of a breakpoint? Simply add a Java Boolean condition statement: i.e. if you look for the 876th iteration of a loop with the index 'i', you will formulate "i == 876" in a dedicated field in the breakpoint-dialog, and the IBM debugger will pop up exactly when the index equals the given value. Already in debug-mode, you can evaluate each member and each parameter of the operation. Need to change source code while debugging WITHOUT re-compiling an restarting the whole project (and losing the object/application state)? No problem, make your source code changes in the debugger window and save them. The debugger jumps to the beginning of the method. Be careful, when you already executed a statement that has changed the state of the object and jump to the start of the method, you might encounter strange behavior. However, you can also assign primitive values to members while debugging. Even object creation and field-assignment is possible, though its usefulness is questionable. 4)Intuitive user interface: After a learning phase (especially when you come from a file-base IDE), you will find the IDE intuitive to use and you will not miss it. Are there any shortcomings? Maybe the "workbench" concept might be confusing for newcomers. The workbench is just the central window for VA for Java, but behind the scenes there is a database that holds the compiled code of all the classes you have 'imported' from java files. Some developers feel loosing a degree of freedom when they have to import java or jar files into the workbench. The bottom line is that the IDE is capable of restoring the source code database even after a system crash without data integrity issues. One last note: The enterprise version provides essentialy J2EE programming features beside other important features. That version of VA also provides a multi-user version magement ready to use for development teams - while the professional version of IMB Visual Age for Java is a standalone IDE. Best IDE for Java - and Smalltalk...
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