OREANDA-NEWS. IBM (NYSE: IBM) is announcing general availability and improvements to a set of services for IBM’s platform-as-a-service (PaaS), Bluemix, that enable developers to more seamlessly integrate Java-based resources into their cloud-based applications.
The new IBM Cloud tools are designed to help developers broaden the capabilities of their applications to give users a more robust cloud experience, by leveraging added security and flexibility to use a vast array of resources for their development. They include:
  • Liberty Buildpack updated the Liberty runtime to make available or preview the latest Java EE 7 Liberty features, and while IBM JRE 7.1 remains the default it is now possible to test and run applications in Bluemix with Java 8. Additionally, among other improvements, the jsp-2.3, el-3.0, and jdbc-4.1 Liberty features, previously in beta, are now available as production-ready.
  • IBM Eclipse Tools for Bluemix is launched with a new version that now includes JavaScript Debug, support for Node.js applications, Java 8 Liberty for Java integration, Eclipse Mars support for the latest Eclipse Mars version as well as an improved trust self-signed certificates capability. Additionally, incremental publish support for JEE applications has been expanded to support web fragment projects.
  • XPages on IBM Bluemix brings the power of Domino XPages to the cloud, allowing developers to create feature-rich, responsive, and secure applications that can be quickly brought to market on Bluemix.

The developer-friendly, open-standards-based Bluemix catalog includes over 100 tools and services of the most prominent open-source technologies combined with IBM and third-party services that allow developers to build, run and manage cloud applications with more flexibility. IBM launched Bluemix via a $1 billion investment in 2014, rapidly becoming the largest Cloud Foundry deployment in the world, and was recently shown to be growing 10-times faster than the overall PaaS market by research firm ESG.

Combining Bluemix and IBM Design Thinking methodology, the Bluemix Garage network creates a bridge between the scale of enterprises and the culture of startups, by establishing physical collaboration spaces housed in the heart of thriving entrepreneurial communities around the world, including successful implementations in San Francisco, London and Toronto.