Planet J Corp. wowed the judges again this year, taking the gold with Version 6.4 of its Web Object Wizard (WOW).

WOW 6.4 is a rapid application development tool used for creating Web applications that access iSeries files and programs. And when they say rapid, they mean rapid. Using WOW, development time is 100 to 400 times faster than writing an application in code. Web applications are created by specifying SQL/JDBC statements. WOW generates and displays the results in HTML to the user's browser.

WOW is written in Java, so it can run on any platform. It runs on top of IBM's WebSphere Application Server or Apache's Tomcat.

If you thought WOW was easy to use before, the developers have made it even simpler. Using WOW Express, non-technical users such as sales, managers, accountants, can write their own iSeries queries.

WOW can also now accommodate automatic e-mailing from within an application, allowing users to send such things as sales reports and invoice status updates. Other enhancements include the following:

• Improved templates
• Customizable dashboards
• Custom user message and confirmation screens
• Replacement Library Support for easy switching between production, development and backup database systems
• Mobile and wireless device support
• Use as a file server

WOW's pricing is attractive as well. You can get the free version or go for the Standard, Professional or Enterprise editions. WOW is licensed based on the type of applications being built.

"WOW wins again in this category on function, portability and value," one judge said. "It does deliver on cutting the cost of Web development below many other tools."

Planet J Corp.'s Web Object Wizard, Version 6.4