In another big step in the evolution of the SnapLogic platform, we’re proud to announce the addition of Java and new enhancements in release 2.2 of SnapLogic available today!

This announcement is the next stage of evolution of our DataFlow platform by significantly extending its language support and adds the power, speed and enhanced enterprise connectivity of Java to the rapid development environment and support for a wide range of data sources that Python currently provides SnapLogic users.

From a SnapLogic user perspective, the new Java support is transparent. Java components can be mixed and matched with Python components in standard SnapLogic pipelines, and are fully compatible with one another. The key benefits of the addition of Java support are the addition of Java’s higher performance execution and support for parallel execution especially relevant in todays multi-core environment. Now you get choose the rapid development of Python and the fast execution of Java components as needed to optimize pipelines in a fully multi-threaded environment.

On the back end, for component and Snap developers, Java gets first class support, and is implemented through a new component container which runs in parallel with the existing Python component container. The component API’s are similar, providing the same consistent API for Snap developers, whether they use Python or Java.

So what have we added by including Java support in the SnapLogic platform? Lots, including:

Easy access to Java Libraries

The inclusion of native support for Java as a fundamental part of the SnapLogic Platform opens up access to a wealth of libraries and APIs from the Java community, including libraries that may already be in use in your environment

Snaps can now be built in Java, too

By embracing Java we let Snap developers use their Java skills and also make it easy for consultants to their Java tools into Snaps for the SnapStore, or to foster re-use in a enterprise environment through private Snaps.

Higher performance

Java components provide the option of faster execution for computational tasks wherever needed.

More parallelism

Java components are designed to take advantage of multi processor and multi-core systems, and since they also run in parallel with Python components provide the ability to optimize performance and rapid development.

JDBC compatibility

The Java database API has with extensive database vendor support, which opens up connectivity to many more enterprise databases in addition to those already enabled by Python.

Our dual language approach, similar to that used by Google App Engine and other leading web-era platforms, gives our developers the best of both worlds – they get the power of Python for fast development and support for a wide range of data sources, and they can leverage the performance of Java and it’s wide range of enterprise sources.

As usual, we also managed to squeeze in a number of additional useful enhancements with the most visible one being the inclusion of database connection resources directly in pipelines, which allows for full parameterization of all connection properties at runtime.

Java support joins with the rich functionality of SnapLogic Pro to further enhance its enterprise level capabilities and support while providing the richest most powerful and extensible platform that SnapLogic has offered to date.

The upgrade path is straightforward – SnapLogic 2.1.X installations and repositories are automatically upgraded to 2.2 at install time.