Rational Xde Modeling Tool

Rational XDE modeling tool We recently received the Rational XDE modeling tool for use in class and luckily I had some previous practice using it. "XDE Professional, originally released in February, is a tool that allows software developers to "model" -- or create graphical representations of -- their software, so they need to write less code to build applications." (Wong, 2002) This report aims to describe my understanding of XDE and gives some back ground to its potential for both modeling and drawing.

In theory and in most cases Rational XDE makes design and development faster by allowing the designer to work on two different aspects of software creation in one environment. Rational as an organization also created the Unified Modeling Language or UML tool Rational Rose which is still a pretty well used modeling tool for Internet and object oriented design projects. "The original version of XDE for .Net edition supported Microsoft's C# language. The new XDE -- with the Visual Basic.Net and ASP.Net support -- will ship within 30 days.

A future iteration will support the C++ language." (Wong, 2002) Rational XDE is a fairly new product that in a sense is still in the process of having some bugs worked out of it so unfortunately, my time and experience using XDE has not been a totally problem free scenario. This report will also present some of the issues and concerns I have had to deal with such as installation issues and overall product ease of use.

Modeling Technology and the internet have added a great amount of pressure for developers and designers to come up with stellar code. Modeling has always been a foundation skill that helped reduce problems such as program bugs, repetitive code and object oriented class errors. Modeling has also served as an excellent tool for creating repeatable implementation processes. Like most designers, I found that the ad hoc modeling tools of choice were self-help process tools.

For example, I was constantly using the Microsoft Office products like Word, Excel and on occasion Visio create my software or system modeling representations and designs. When I started to dabble with the Unified Modeling Language I found that the coding process was much more difficult when considering object oriented programming. So I sought out to try Rational Rose for my design modeling.

I thought the tool was adequate except for the fact that you had to work with UML using Rational Rose but then switch back to the IDE to code which was time consuming and inconvenient because the thought process is constantly being redirected. Rational XDE offered the solution and provided a pretty good visual model of the program without the switching back and fourth. My experience with XDE started out okay.

The software was definitely a tool for more experienced designers and programmers but I got around that by using the free form modeling support which helped me become more familiar with the software and eventually helped me to use more of the inherent modeling features such as the generic shapes of free form mixed with the standards-based UML. I believe that the tool will become more non-professional friendly as the demand for modeling tools picks up. "Rational also released or updated a handful of testing tools.

Test RealTime, which tests, find bugs and fixes problems in software programs, now has support for Java in addition to the original C, C++ and Ada languages. Beyond this, the company has added support for the Linux operating system to PurifyPlus RealTime, used for analyzing a program while it is running." (Wong, 2002) One area where I had some concern was the installation process.

For example, the software decided for me to install the Standalone Rational XDE but it also chose to install the IBM WebSphere Studio Workbench (WSSW) that I really did not know what it was or if I needed it. When the software told me that I did not have the IBM software I tied to choose to not load it. I was in a catch 22 -- I could not bypass the IBM install and since I did not own the needed receiver program it would not install the standalone.

After several tries I got around the problem by unchecking both and for some odd reason it worked. By working I mean the install kicked in but I am not sure what it was that I installed in regard to the options. Eventually I got the program working and ran into a second dilemma instantly. AS the program opened the option to create a new project expected me to know if I was going to open a "Model" project or a "Java" project.

Since I was new to Java, I decided to open a Model and once again I lucked out to find that you create a "Model" project and perform your early analysis and later on you create a "Java" project and tie then together in the same workspace. All in all, I got better with the software and believe that these early confusions should be.