Apache Derby Out of the Gate, Full Project

Almost a year after IBM  donated its Java-based database server to the Apache Software Foundation, the project has now come out of the incubator, become a full project and released a new version.
IBM-donated open source assets are now a full project — one that has drawn praise and support from Sun Microsystems.

The open source project also has the support of Sun Microsystems as well.

Apache Derby is a standards-based pure Java relational database engine and is now part of the Apache DB project. Apache Derby was renamed from IBM Cloudscape after the IBM donation of the relational database application last August.

At the time, an IBM official valued the donation at $85 million, which included IBM’s cost of buying the assets from Informix in 2001 as well as the subsequent development of approximately a half million lines of code.

The project also issued a new release of the software, Derby version 10.1.1.0 that includes a new open source network client driver in addition to a long list of other line item enhancements and features.

Derby 10.1.1.0 functionality includes network server, embedded engine with JDBC driver, command line tools, SQL support, JDK/JDBC support and Full ACID transaction support with all four isolation levels amongst numerous other features.

Among the members of the Apache Derby development ecosystem is Java-steward Sun Microsystems. Jim McHugh, senior director of enterprise software portfolio at Sun Microsystems noted that Sun believes Derby will be of great interest to Java developers and especially for those applications that require a lightweight, embedded database.

“Sun engineers are committers for this Apache project, collaborating with IBM and other engineers. We want to see this project grow into a vibrant community,” McHugh told internetnews.com. “Sun is participating in the Derby project because it’s Java, it’s Open Source, and is a great DB for Java app development.”

This article was originally published on Internetnews.com.