Nokia Corp. is hoping to create a framework for Java-based developer tools with this week’s expected announcement that it has joined Canada’s Eclipse Foundation.
Nokia said it will contribute software and developers to a new Eclipse project that seeks to create tooling support for J2ME. The manufacturer will donate several components of its existing Java development tools technology, as well as work to develop new software to introduce tools for the creation of both Mobile Information Device Profile and Connected Device Configuration based on J2ME applications.
The goal is to achieve a framework that can expedite the development process for a variety of applications for Nokia Series 40, 60 and 80 phones.
“We’ll be putting people and resources into leading the Eclipse open source project,” said Heikki Koivu, director of developer platform tools for Forum Nokia. “What we’re after is to bring efficiency to developers and make them more competitive. In the end, we hope that introduces an increased number of all types of applications. We’re expecting to see impact across all fields.”
Koivu noted that while Nokia is actively involved in developer communities around the world, the Eclipse project marks the manufacturer’s most ambitious effort in the arena.
Launched four years ago by IBM Corp., Eclipse has gained significant traction among developers in wireless and elsewhere. A recent study by Forrester Research Inc. determined the Eclipse tool platform is used in half of all applicable information technology organizations, and as many as 75 percent of Java development teams are using Eclipse or a commercial tool based on its platform.
“The battle to be the leading development tools integration framework-at least, outside the Microsoft sphere of influence-is over, and Eclipse has won, even if some vendors have not yet conceded,” Carl Zetie, a Forrester analyst, wrote earlier this year.
Eclipse spun off from IBM as an independent nonprofit community last year and currently boasts 109 members. Nokia joins the group as a strategic developer and board member, and the new project is one of roughly 45 the group is pursuing. L.M. Ericsson; PalmSource Inc., which is set to be acquired by Access Co. Ltd.; and Sybase Inc. are among its members and affiliates.
“We’re trying to build with a single open source community development language for as many platforms as we possibly can,” said Mike Milinkovich, director of the Eclipse Foundation.
