Right now I'm a big fan of Eclipse. I don't have anything against the other tools, it's just that I don't want to spend any money on something when a free product does it all for me. I'm not saying Eclipse is the best tool out there - it probably isn't, but it can't be a bad one because it seems to be coming in the top few places in most of the IDE polls that folks throw together.

What I'm trying to work out is why the folks at Sun don't like Eclipse. Everyone knows the jokes about the name being to do with blocking out the Sun, but leaving that aside it's not a bad piece of software and it's done no harm to Java the language. What it has hurt is Java the Sun commercial product brand.

I remember after JavaOne learning all about Project Rave. I thought it was part of NetBeans perhaps - a pretty good open-source IDE created by Sun, and coincidently also free, so after Eclipse it'd be a good second choice for skinflints like me. But now I understand what Project Rave is - it's a Sun product that is now officially renamed as Java Studio.

Why should I use Java Studio instead of Eclipse. Let's see what Jim Inscore working on Project Rave has to say about it.  Does it have a great debugger? Does it let me work well in a team environment? Does it have a large library of companies providing plugins?

"We're definitely targeting a certain class of developer; but 100% Java standards-based, no proprietary languages," said Sun's Inscore. "To a certain extent, we provide the same functionality, but the trump card is that it's Java-based. The appeal is standards and being able to work in a unified environment."

Ah - it's "Java-based." It certainly has the Java adjective in front of it. What does "Java standards-based" mean? Java is write once run anywhere so it must run everywhere.

Java Studio runs on Windows and Solaris. There's a Linux version coming soon.

OK - so "Java standards" doesn't mean it runs everywhere. Got no problem with that, unless of course I happen to use a Mac or Linux right now. Maybe "Java standards" mean it lets me create code conforming to Java standards so that it's the best tool for writing Java code. Let's see what Sun's Web site says.

 Java Studio is designed for professional developers. Whether they require a complete, integrated development environment (IDE) for Java technology or simple, command line-based (CLI) components for C, C++, and Fortran development, Sun provides the products, technologies and programs tailored to the application development needs of developers.

I see - I can use it to write in a bunch of different languages, one of which may be Java. So being "Java standards" means you run on two platforms and support lots of different languages?

What do Sun have to say about my current favorite IDE. Jonathan Schwartz informs me "Eclipse is really the wrong direction. It's about binding your applications to an operating system." Not for me it doesn't, any more than if I used Microsoft Notepad to write Java code, thereby possibly locking me into Windows. Surely any fool knows that a .java file saved in Notepad can't be opened in any other platform? Presumably Mr. Schwartz is taking a dig here at SWT - the GUI toolkit used by Eclipse.

So what's the big deal with SWT anyway? It seems pretty fast and bug free and it gives Eclipse a nice snappy feel to it. What does Mr Schwartz have to say about SWT?

"I think what they've done with SWT violates really what you would want to do with the Java platform. No one wants 'write once, run on this operating system'."

The SWT Web site lists 10 platforms it runs on. That's eight more than Java Studio supports.

Can anyone tell me what "Java standards" or "Java based" actually means any more? From where I'm looking it seems to be synonymous with "created by Sun."

• Sun Snubs Eclipse.org