Software vendor BEA Systems is planning to create an open source application framework, called 'Beehive', based on its WebLogic Workshop Java Development tool.

BEA wants to encourage developers to use its tool as the foundation for Java-based enterprise applications and service-oriented architectures, in a challenge to Microsoft's .Net development environment.

The company claims to have 50 vendors and integrators already signed up to the project as members of its Workshop Controls and Extensibility programme. These include Capgemini, Documentum, Salesforce.com and Veritas.

"By open-sourcing the application framework, we can help provide a way for all Java developers, as well as our ISVs, to build fully portable applications more productively," said BEA's chief technology officer, Scott Dietzen, in a statement.

The project is designed to complement other integrated development environments, such as the open source tool platform Eclipse, by offering a runtime environment for building application frameworks.