Stories by: Paul Krill

Aptana, which has enabled Web 2.0 development via JavaScript, Ruby on Rails, and PHP with the Aptana Studio IDE, has added Python to the mix through its acquisition of Pydev, which was announced this week.

An open-source technology has been launched to help developers using Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 find duplicated code in their software projects.

Standardization efforts for the next version of JavaScript have taken a sharp turn this month, with some key changes in the Web scripting technology's direction. JavaScript creator Brendan Eich, CTO of Mozilla, has helped forge a consensus on how to proceed with the direction for JavaScript's improvements. "JavaScript was sitting still. It was stagnant," he says.

Sonatype on Tuesday began offering a tool for Java developers to manage internal Maven-based code repositories and access external Maven repositories.

Mainsoft, which enables developers to leverage Microsoft Windows development skills to build applications for other platforms, on Monday is introducing updates to development products for Java, Linux, and Unix, adding support for Microsoft's Visual Studio 2008 IDE.

Embarcadero Technologies this week plans to unveil next-generation CodeGear rapid application development (RAD) tools for Windows, featuring support for Microsoft's Silverlight technology for media and rich Internet applications.

With its new JavaFX technology for rich Internet applications, Sun Microsystems hopes to leverage the strength of the Java development base and Java's ubiquitous presence on devices to make a strong run in a race in which it is a very late entrant.

While the company only has a 10 percent share of the search market with its Live Search technology, Microsoft has big plans to enhance its platform regardless of what happens with its now-dormant proposal to buy Yahoo.

FiveRuns and Morph Labs on Tuesday announced they are partnering to provide free application performance testing for Ruby on Rails applications, with the goal of bolstering applications running in the cloud.

Developing with the popular AJAX technique for Web applications is the focus of product releases Monday from both WaveMaker and Genuitec.

Oracle this week upgraded the WebLogic application server that the company gained in its BEA Systems acquisition, adding integration with Oracle's Fusion middleware platform.