Sun will release a software development kit in the middle of next year that will allow businesses to customize applications in its open source StarOffice productivity suite to better suit their needs, an executive for the company said Wednesday.Sun’s StarOffice Software Developers Kit (SDK) is intended in part to make the productivity suite more competitive with Microsoft’s Office suite. It will allow developers to use Java in order to add custom features to the productivity software, by writing software plug-ins or customizing menus, for example, said Joerg Heilig, Sun’s director of engineering for StarOffice.Currently, StarOffice developers can tweak the software using a scripting language called StarOffice Basic, which is similar to Microsoft’s Visual Basic language, he said.“There are things you can actually do in StarOffice 6.0 already, it’s just the development kit wasn’t available,” Heilig said. Some resources for StarOffice developers are available at OpenOffice.org, an open source community that develops a free version of StarOffice. Microsoft Office developers have long used tools to customize the Redmond, Washington, company’s software suite for specific business uses. For example, a developer can create macros within Microsoft Excel that automate steps for filling out expense reports, such as currency conversion.Sun’s goal is to let developers create similar macros with Java, taking advantage of its widespread use by developers. “We believe this is a big advantage because many people know Java,” Heilig said. Additionally, “the security model and design principles of Java can be very easily used and reused in the context of an office suite.”The toolkit will be available as a download from the OpenOffice.org Web site in the middle of next year, Sun said. It will also be included with the next minor upgrade to StarOffice 6.0, due in the same timeframe. That planned release is being designed primarily for enterprise customers, according to Heilig.An early version of the SDK is currently available on the OpenOffice.org Web site. Related content news Cisco CCNA and AWS cloud networking rank among highest paying IT certifications Cloud expertise and security know-how remain critical in building today’s networks, and these skills pay top dollar, according to Skillsoft’s annual ranking of the most valuable IT certifications. Demand for talent continues to outweigh s By Denise Dubie Nov 30, 2023 7 mins Certifications Certifications Certifications news Mainframe modernization gets a boost from Kyndryl, AWS collaboration Kyndryl and AWS have expanded their partnership to help enterprise customers simplify and accelerate their mainframe modernization initiatives. By Michael Cooney Nov 30, 2023 4 mins Mainframes Cloud Computing Data Center news AWS and Nvidia partner on Project Ceiba, a GPU-powered AI supercomputer The companies are extending their AI partnership, and one key initiative is a supercomputer that will be integrated with AWS services and used by Nvidia’s own R&D teams. By Andy Patrizio Nov 30, 2023 3 mins CPUs and Processors Generative AI Supercomputers news VMware stung by defections and layoffs after Broadcom close Layoffs and executive departures are expected after an acquisition, but there's also concern about VMware customer retention. By Andy Patrizio Nov 30, 2023 3 mins Virtualization Data Center Industry Podcasts Videos Resources Events NEWSLETTERS Newsletter Promo Module Test Description for newsletter promo module. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe