Port80 Software last week announced the availability of a product that compresses Web files and accelerates applications by using code optimization technology.

The  product - w3compiler - lets Web designers and application programmers reduce Web file sizes before deploying Web sites and applications on Web server platforms. The company says it has tested the application on millions of lines of codes to fine-tune the offering.

"Consultants charge thousands to optimize 'by hand'. One developer can crunch an entire site with w3compiler in minutes," Port80 COO Joseph Lima said in a statement. "The average HTML file can be reduced by 40%, and w3compiler compresses some JavaScript by 90%."

Among the product features, Port80 promises to give customers faster Web page loads with smaller file transfers and reduced bandwidth costs for Web site and application owners. The company says that code optimization ensures that Web browsers and search engines can download compressed files faster and more cost-effectively.

W3compiler uses optimization techniques that include removing white space and comments, file name and color remapping, entity reduction, and meta tag management. The software automates JavaScript compression by shortening user-defined variables, functions, and objects, and remapping built-in object names.

Developers continue to work with their normal, unoptimized files and then deploy "w3compiled" code to Web servers. The original files, left untouched, can be edited while Web-ready code is optimized for speed and security, according to Port80.

Designed to run on Windows 2000, XP, and Windows Server 2003, w3compiler has GUI and command line interfaces for scripted optimization and an internal preview browser. W3compiler is available for a free 15-day trial at http://www.w3compiler.com.

The software costs about $80 per CPU.

Ann Bednarz is associate news editor at Network World.