Development Tools

The following general tools are provided with the Enterprise Server:

• The asadmin Command

• The Administration Console

The following development tools are provided with the Enterprise Server or downloadable from Sun:

• Enterprise Server Ant Tasks

• Scripting Language Support

• The Migration Tool

• The NetBeans IDE

The following third-party tools might also be useful:

• The Eclipse IDE

• Debugging Tools

• Profiling Tools

The asadmin Command

The asadmin command allows you to configure a local or remote server and perform both administrative and development tasks at the command line. For general information about asadmin, see the Sun GlassFish Enterprise Server v3 Reference Manual.

The asadmin command is located in the as-install/bin directory. Type asadmin help for a list of subcommands.

The Administration Console

The Administration Console lets you configure the server and perform both administrative and development tasks using a web browser. For general information about the Administration Console, click the Help button in the Administration Console. This displays the Enterprise Server online help.

To access the Administration Console, type http://host:4848 in your browser. The host is the name of the machine on which the Enterprise Server is running. By default, the host is localhost. For example:

http://localhost:4848

Enterprise Server Ant Tasks

The Enterprise Server provides server-specific tasks for administration and deployment; see Chapter 3, Using Ant with Enterprise Server. The sample applications that can be used with the Enterprise Server use Ant build.xml files; see Sample Applications.

For more information about Ant, see the Apache Software Foundation web site at http://ant.apache.org/.

Scripting Language Support

The Enterprise Server supports a number of scripting languages, including Ruby on Rails and Groovy on Grails. For more information, see the Sun GlassFish Enterprise Server v3 Scripting Framework Guide.

The Migration Tool

The Migration Tool converts and reassembles Java EE applications and modules developed on other application servers. This tool also generates a report listing how many files are successfully and unsuccessfully migrated, with reasons for migration failure. For more information and to download the Migration Tool, see http://java.sun.com/j2ee/tools/migration/index.html.

The NetBeans IDE

The NetBeans IDE allows you to create, assemble, and debug code from a single, easy-to-use interface. The GlassFish edition of the Enterprise Server is bundled with the NetBeans 6.1 IDE. To download the NetBeans IDE, see http://www.netbeans.org. This site also provides documentation on how to use the NetBeans IDE with the bundled GlassFish edition of the Enterprise Server.

You can also use the Enterprise Server with the Sun Java Studio 8 software, which is built on the NetBeans IDE. For more information, see http://developers.sun.com/prodtech/javatools/jsenterprise/.

The Eclipse IDE

A plug-in for the Eclipse IDE is available at http://glassfishplugins.dev.java.net/. This site also provides documentation on how to register the Enterprise Server and use Sun-specific deployment descriptors.

Debugging Tools

You can use several debugging tools with the Enterprise Server. For more information, see Chapter 4, Debugging Applications.

Profiling Tools

You can use several profilers with the Enterprise Server. For more information, see Profiling Tools.