This is one of an emerging class of management tools geared toward the development of Internet-based applications. These GUI-based tools bring issues such as transaction times and network topology into development so developers can see where slowdowns in performance occur. For example, in one instance the client made three separate calls to the server to perform only one task. Within one week of implementing Application Expert, Holtzman says, performance of the SmartContent System improved by 40 percent. Optimal's tool attempts to determine whether a problem is in the network, the server, or the application itself, by mapping traffic patterns and applying simulation techniques.
Developers can vary the speed at which they expect traffic to travel.
For example, dev elopers can check performance times with a 28.8Kbps modem or test the response of an ISDN line. Application Expert also incorporates technology from Optimal's Survey or topology mapping tool to provide developers with knowledge of where the apps are getting stalling. Another company, Eventus Software Inc., has an applications-development management tool, Control, in beta testing now. The product integrates several third-party development tools into its tool bar so developers can access them, and it manages the production cycle through deployment of the application. Raj Shah, Webmaster at Sapient Corp., a systems integrator in Cambridge, Mass., manages an intranet that is made up of more than 120,000 files.