It has been announced that JBoss, the Professional Open Source federation, has become a member of the Eclipse Foundation. JBoss, which was incorporated this year, will work alongside other Eclipse members in developing code for the J2EE Standard Tools Project. JBoss' added assistance will help in perfecting the integration of open source tools and Middleware solutions.

Bob Bickel, vice president of strategy and corporate development with JBoss said, "Our objective in joining the Eclipse Foundation, one of the most respected and active open source organizations, is to contribute code that we believe will make it easier for developers to work with JBoss."

JBoss offers stable Java Middleware technology, and provides the most widely used J2EE application server. The new relationship with Eclipse is a logical one as the company uses the Eclipse platform with, for example, its integrated development environment JBoss-IDE. The Eclipse-supported environment is used by developers to debug, monitor, and control JBoss servers, and aids in J2EE development of EJBs, servlets and Web services.

Indeed, Bickel said that one of the first projects JBoss will be involved with is a Java plug-in, "We anticipate our first major contribution will be a plug-in that will provide developers with a Java-based, aspect oriented framework that will be of use in any programming environment."

By joining Eclipse, JBoss will be able to leverage benefits that will help develop their business. Likewise, the Foundation will gain the expertise of JBoss, and provide, according to Mike Milinkovich, executive director of the Eclipse Foundation, "better development tools." He added, "JBoss will ultimately help developers build better, easier to use middleware. Eclipse is already in widespread use among companies working with the JBoss Application Server. Now, by formalizing our relationship, the Eclipse Foundation and JBoss will be able to provide developers with an even more complete solution."

• JBoss 4.0, First Certified Open Source J2EE 1.4 Server