Exactly a year after releasing the first preview of version 11g of its JDeveloper Java integrated development environment (IDE), Oracle has quietly slipped out preview number four - yes, count 'em - four.

But despite a significant number of updated and new features Oracle has still to reveal a date for the first full production version.

That's what we've come to expect, though, from a company that defines product-shipment dates in the broadest sense possible.

According to Oracle, JDeveloper 11g "marks a significant milestone in the progress of application development" and technical preview number four is certainly not lacking in features. In addition to enhanced support for Java Enterprise Edition 5.0, it includes new AJAX developer features and a set of components to build applications for a new Application Development Framework (ADF) Faces rich client. Oracle has also beefed up JDeveloper's web application capabilities with better support for JAX-WS, a WDSL editor and a web services testing framework.

JDeveloper technical preview four is accompanied by new versions of the Oracle SOA Suite and a batch of new WebCenter components.

First released in 1998, JDeveloper has grown to become an all bells-and-whistles Java IDE with its own application development framework - ADF - and integration with Oracle's WebcCenter and service oriented architecture components.®