James Sugrue

Well the aim of the unit test should be to check that the facade returns what you expect to have returned, maybe checking that an object returned is a combination of values from a number of services. Code coverage really should be at the facade itself, but in turn that will give you coverage of the services that are behind that facade.

James

The ShoppingCart is the main entry point for using this pattern

James

Thanks for taking the time out to summarise the podcast Dave. It's always enlightening to hear what James Gosling has to say about where Java is headed.

Clear enough that he isn't a fan of Swift!

Good point. You can just return -1 then :)

Good point. You can just return -1 then :)

Good point. You can just return -1 then :)

You're right Mario - I'll update the question to make this more clear..

You're right Mario - I'll update the question to make this more clear..

You're right Mario - I'll update the question to make this more clear..

You're right Mario - I'll update the question to make this more clear..

You're right Mario - I'll update the question to make this more clear..

You're right Mario - I'll update the question to make this more clear..

Sounds like another interesting challenge - go for it :)

James

Sounds like another interesting challenge - go for it :)

James

I see where you're going with that one :) But it's more fun to do the lower level algorithm instead of using the utility functions available

James

I see where you're going with that one :) But it's more fun to do the lower level algorithm instead of using the utility functions available

James

I see where you're going with that one :) But it's more fun to do the lower level algorithm instead of using the utility functions available

James

Chris has now put his project up in KickStarter - if you're a believer in Light Table, get pledging!

James

Hey Erin

I guess the wording was a bit vague..

Efficient to me is execution time / computations. But feel free to aim at it any other type of efficiency.

James

Hey Erin

I guess the wording was a bit vague..

Efficient to me is execution time / computations. But feel free to aim at it any other type of efficiency.

James

Hi Gregory,

Sounds like a great app - will be in contact soon

James

Hi Gregory,

Sounds like a great app - will be in contact soon

James

Hi Gregory,

Sounds like a great app - will be in contact soon

James

It's at http://reportmill.com/

James

It's at http://reportmill.com/

James

It's at http://reportmill.com/

James

It's at http://reportmill.com/

James

It's at http://reportmill.com/

James

It's at http://reportmill.com/

James

It's at http://reportmill.com/

James

It's at http://reportmill.com/

James

It's at http://reportmill.com/

James

It's at http://reportmill.com/

James

It's at http://reportmill.com/

James

It's at http://reportmill.com/

James

It's at http://reportmill.com/

James

Sounds good Jeff. I'll be in contact..

James

Sounds good Jeff. I'll be in contact..

James

Sounds good Jeff. I'll be in contact..

James

Sounds great Judah. I'll check up on it and be in contact soon

James

Sounds great Judah. I'll check up on it and be in contact soon

James

Sounds great Judah. I'll check up on it and be in contact soon

James

I have to admit that I never heard about NetRexx. I've added the choice for you Tom, so you can vote for it now :-)

James

I have to admit that I never heard about NetRexx. I've added the choice for you Tom, so you can vote for it now :-)

James

One thing you can count on is that Java will never go away. Languages that are written on the JVM have ensured that Java sticks around. Java 7 has made some nice advances, and Java 8 is looking good.

One of the most notable moves from Ruby to Java has been Twitter - http://www.gmarwaha.com/blog/2011/04/11/twitter-moves-from-rails-to-java/. That article raises an interesting (but arguable) point that a Java code base is more maintainable than that of Ruby.

As always, the future is looking bright for Java.

James

Hi Chris

I'm not sure I agree that we're not acknowledging client side development. Looking at the current frontpage, sure, we have some enterprise stuff, but there's also articles about Java in general, Java mobile and development practices.

My own experience is with desktop software, JavaSE and Eclipse RCP/SWT applications, so I've always tried to get a good focus on these technologies while working on JavaLobby and EclipseZone. I've even written a refcard covering Java GUI Development, with both Swing and SWT.

If there are any specific topics you feel we are missing let us know.

James

What I meant by "big" was "defining", rather than best. Sure, it was a turbulent, destructive year. But there is also some good to be taken out of it (Java7 / Java8, Apple & IBM participating in OpenJDK).

James

What I meant by "big" was "defining", rather than best. Sure, it was a turbulent, destructive year. But there is also some good to be taken out of it (Java7 / Java8, Apple & IBM participating in OpenJDK).

James

What I meant by "big" was "defining", rather than best. Sure, it was a turbulent, destructive year. But there is also some good to be taken out of it (Java7 / Java8, Apple & IBM participating in OpenJDK).

James

I totally agree with you - auto generated comments will typically add no value to your code. Much better to have meaningful variable/method names, rather than that type of documentation.

James

It's worrying that taken together design and test are not even half the amount of time spent on coding. Throw in analysis, and all three activities still seem to be given less priority than code. I know that developers need to get stuff out there, but it's a struggle without proper quality measures around coding. Maybe test driven development doesn't really happen.

Most developers would find it difficult to keep their skills up to date in their day job, unless they are lucky enough to be working on a project with varying technologies. To really keep up to date with this industry, developers have to sacrifice some of their spare time.

You raise some very good points there Jeff. I was thinking the same - that HTML5 is the big technology now in place of those other RIA approaches. I won't give up on JavaFX just yet though.

Microsofts approach of rewarding developers for developing for Windows Phone 7 could be a worthwhile approach for Oracle to take with JavaFX.

You raise some very good points there Jeff. I was thinking the same - that HTML5 is the big technology now in place of those other RIA approaches. I won't give up on JavaFX just yet though.

Microsofts approach of rewarding developers for developing for Windows Phone 7 could be a worthwhile approach for Oracle to take with JavaFX.

You raise some very good points there Jeff. I was thinking the same - that HTML5 is the big technology now in place of those other RIA approaches. I won't give up on JavaFX just yet though.

Microsofts approach of rewarding developers for developing for Windows Phone 7 could be a worthwhile approach for Oracle to take with JavaFX.

If I could create my project in JavaFX and cross compile for other platform targets, like Android or maybe even the iPhone, it would definitely grab my attention again.

Nice tip - thanks.

Nice tip - thanks.

Nice tip - thanks.

Hi Ricky

That's a good point - a bad example, which I'll update now. And of course, you're right about breaking interfaces for a language..

What do you think of the proposal in general?

James

Hi Ricky

That's a good point - a bad example, which I'll update now. And of course, you're right about breaking interfaces for a language..

What do you think of the proposal in general?

James

Hi Ricky

That's a good point - a bad example, which I'll update now. And of course, you're right about breaking interfaces for a language..

What do you think of the proposal in general?

James

I see where Avi and Philopator are coming from - you definitely don't want to overspecify. The thing is that good development principles can still apply to the "get it out there ASAP" approach. Once you have the right features specified, you know what you need to deliver, then your design and code should be as good as possible. For every story there is of projects that have done well without the puritan approach, I'm sure there's a few stories of failed projects who took the "hope for the best" approach.

Exactly - at any stage in the process you should aim to do the very best you can. If you can't honestly say that "this is the best I can do", then it's probably not good enough.

Right now the votes are exactly 30% saying it's fair, and 70% saying it's not :)

Thanks Florian

No reason at all - it would have been better to use List :)

James

Thanks Florian

No reason at all - it would have been better to use List :)

James

Thanks Florian

No reason at all - it would have been better to use List :)

James

Thanks Florian

No reason at all - it would have been better to use List :)

James

Thanks Florian

No reason at all - it would have been better to use List :)

James

Thanks Florian

No reason at all - it would have been better to use List :)

James

Thanks Florian

No reason at all - it would have been better to use List :)

James

Thanks Florian

No reason at all - it would have been better to use List :)

James

Good idea

Mine would be Basic -> Pascal -> Java -> C/C++ -> Java

Good idea

Mine would be Basic -> Pascal -> Java -> C/C++ -> Java

Good idea

Mine would be Basic -> Pascal -> Java -> C/C++ -> Java

While money definitely had a bearing in my final decision, I think I was always destined towards the software development industry. When I was younger I messed around with BASIC a little, and even though the games I created were simple (and just copied out of some BASIC book), I was amazed by the potential. I did have ideas of becoming a game developer, but I never got around to that. Now, I can't see myself doing anything else apart from writing or designing software.

James

Lots of great suggestions for handling XML - keep them coming!

James

I've found myself using that type of approach too Peter...It would be great to see a blog/more detail.

James

To get things going here, when I need to serialize and read from XML, as I'm running on the Eclipse platform, I use EMF (Eclipse Modelling Framework). Seems to do a really good job of serializing XML. Previously, I had used JAXB and Castor.

It's been a long time since I've needed to use SAX or DOM. I prefer having the object structure matching the XML structure rather than dealing with abstractness.. But that's just me.

James

Thanks for the comment Greg.

Maybe I should have made it clear that by people I was referring to consumers, rather than Java application developers :)

Maybe when the TOS mess gets cleaned up, we can cross compile over from Java. Surely someone somewhere is working on this.

James

Thanks for the comment Greg.

Maybe I should have made it clear that by people I was referring to consumers, rather than Java application developers :)

Maybe when the TOS mess gets cleaned up, we can cross compile over from Java. Surely someone somewhere is working on this.

James

Thanks for the comment Greg.

Maybe I should have made it clear that by people I was referring to consumers, rather than Java application developers :)

Maybe when the TOS mess gets cleaned up, we can cross compile over from Java. Surely someone somewhere is working on this.

James

Thanks for the comment Greg.

Maybe I should have made it clear that by people I was referring to consumers, rather than Java application developers :)

Maybe when the TOS mess gets cleaned up, we can cross compile over from Java. Surely someone somewhere is working on this.

James

Thanks Gabor

Yes - that foreach syntax has been in since Java 5.

James

Thanks Gabor

Yes - that foreach syntax has been in since Java 5.

James

Thanks Gabor

Yes - that foreach syntax has been in since Java 5.

James

Thanks Gabor

Yes - that foreach syntax has been in since Java 5.

James

Thanks Gabor

Yes - that foreach syntax has been in since Java 5.

James

Thanks Gabor

Yes - that foreach syntax has been in since Java 5.

James

Thank you - some great ideas for additions there. I agree, the Swing threading chapter is a bit short.

Hopefully I can work these items in soon.

James

Thank you - some great ideas for additions there. I agree, the Swing threading chapter is a bit short.

Hopefully I can work these items in soon.

James

Thank you - some great ideas for additions there. I agree, the Swing threading chapter is a bit short.

Hopefully I can work these items in soon.

James

Great article Alex.Code coverage is one of those metrics that really bothers me. It's too easy to blindly code enough unit tests to get a high level of code coverage without having any real meaning behind the tests

You raise some fair points here Kirk. The exception to all this of course, is those who are developing using the Eclipse platform, in particular RCP applications. Almost without knowing, you can take advantage of all the benefits of OSGi modularity, without any setup complexity.

James

Thanks for the example Mark.
The reason I didn't do the abstract base class was because of single inheritance, but it does make a bit more sense to do it this way.

James

Thanks for the example Mark.
The reason I didn't do the abstract base class was because of single inheritance, but it does make a bit more sense to do it this way.

James

Thanks for the example Mark.
The reason I didn't do the abstract base class was because of single inheritance, but it does make a bit more sense to do it this way.

James

Thanks for the example Mark.
The reason I didn't do the abstract base class was because of single inheritance, but it does make a bit more sense to do it this way.

James

Thanks for the example Mark.
The reason I didn't do the abstract base class was because of single inheritance, but it does make a bit more sense to do it this way.

James

Thanks for the example Mark.
The reason I didn't do the abstract base class was because of single inheritance, but it does make a bit more sense to do it this way.

James

Thanks Erin - I've updated the visitor to include those methods.

You're right, it does make things clearer.

Thanks Erin - I've updated the visitor to include those methods.

You're right, it does make things clearer.

Thanks Erin - I've updated the visitor to include those methods.

You're right, it does make things clearer.

Thanks Erin - I've updated the visitor to include those methods.

You're right, it does make things clearer.

Thanks Erin - I've updated the visitor to include those methods.

You're right, it does make things clearer.

Thanks Erin - I've updated the visitor to include those methods.

You're right, it does make things clearer.

Good to see some discussion around the pattern. I think that in the case of the example above, what you say is true. But if we wanted to decide inside our Item class whether or not it should participate in any visiting, we would have extra logic around the accept(Visitor vistor) method.

For example, if we have books that are free and we never want any visitor to drop by.

public void accept(Visitor vistor)
{
 if(!this.isFree())
 {
 visitor.visit(this);
 }
 }

But I do agree, with Visitor you have a level of coupling that you might not have wanted. Again, before you use the pattern, you need to be sure it fits.

Good to see some discussion around the pattern. I think that in the case of the example above, what you say is true. But if we wanted to decide inside our Item class whether or not it should participate in any visiting, we would have extra logic around the accept(Visitor vistor) method.

For example, if we have books that are free and we never want any visitor to drop by.

public void accept(Visitor vistor)
{
 if(!this.isFree())
 {
 visitor.visit(this);
 }
 }

But I do agree, with Visitor you have a level of coupling that you might not have wanted. Again, before you use the pattern, you need to be sure it fits.

Good to see some discussion around the pattern. I think that in the case of the example above, what you say is true. But if we wanted to decide inside our Item class whether or not it should participate in any visiting, we would have extra logic around the accept(Visitor vistor) method.

For example, if we have books that are free and we never want any visitor to drop by.

public void accept(Visitor vistor)
{
 if(!this.isFree())
 {
 visitor.visit(this);
 }
 }

But I do agree, with Visitor you have a level of coupling that you might not have wanted. Again, before you use the pattern, you need to be sure it fits.

Good to see some discussion around the pattern. I think that in the case of the example above, what you say is true. But if we wanted to decide inside our Item class whether or not it should participate in any visiting, we would have extra logic around the accept(Visitor vistor) method.

For example, if we have books that are free and we never want any visitor to drop by.

public void accept(Visitor vistor)
{
 if(!this.isFree())
 {
 visitor.visit(this);
 }
 }

But I do agree, with Visitor you have a level of coupling that you might not have wanted. Again, before you use the pattern, you need to be sure it fits.

The thing with a lot of patterns is that they're not new approaches to problems, but rather proven solutions to particular scenarios. So, like Observer, Strategy is one of those patterns that you may have been using all along.

The big advantage with a pattern, is that you can say "I'll use Strategy" to explain your design, rather than explaining the whole approach. It's a nice shorthand for designers and developers.

So to answer your question, there's nothing particularly unique about it, but that doesn't stop it from becoming a pattern.

The thing with a lot of patterns is that they're not new approaches to problems, but rather proven solutions to particular scenarios. So, like Observer, Strategy is one of those patterns that you may have been using all along.

The big advantage with a pattern, is that you can say "I'll use Strategy" to explain your design, rather than explaining the whole approach. It's a nice shorthand for designers and developers.

So to answer your question, there's nothing particularly unique about it, but that doesn't stop it from becoming a pattern.

The thing with a lot of patterns is that they're not new approaches to problems, but rather proven solutions to particular scenarios. So, like Observer, Strategy is one of those patterns that you may have been using all along.

The big advantage with a pattern, is that you can say "I'll use Strategy" to explain your design, rather than explaining the whole approach. It's a nice shorthand for designers and developers.

So to answer your question, there's nothing particularly unique about it, but that doesn't stop it from becoming a pattern.

The source is right here: http://java.dzone.com/sites/all/files/easywicket.zip (See under Article Resources at the end of the article)

The source is right here: http://java.dzone.com/sites/all/files/easywicket.zip (See under Article Resources at the end of the article)

The source is right here: http://java.dzone.com/sites/all/files/easywicket.zip (See under Article Resources at the end of the article)

The source is right here: http://java.dzone.com/sites/all/files/easywicket.zip (See under Article Resources at the end of the article)

Thanks for spotting that - should be fixed now

Thanks for spotting that - should be fixed now

Thanks for spotting that - should be fixed now

Thanks for spotting that - should be fixed now

Thanks for spotting that - should be fixed now

Thanks for spotting that - should be fixed now

Thanks for spotting that - should be fixed now

Thanks for spotting that - should be fixed now

Thanks for the comments. I'll make sure to add in the differences in the future patterns, and will edit the existing articles in the series soon to illustrate the differences.

Thanks for the comments. I'll make sure to add in the differences in the future patterns, and will edit the existing articles in the series soon to illustrate the differences.

Thanks for the comments. I'll make sure to add in the differences in the future patterns, and will edit the existing articles in the series soon to illustrate the differences.

Thanks for the comments. I'll make sure to add in the differences in the future patterns, and will edit the existing articles in the series soon to illustrate the differences.

Thanks for the comments. I'll make sure to add in the differences in the future patterns, and will edit the existing articles in the series soon to illustrate the differences.

Thanks for the comments. I'll make sure to add in the differences in the future patterns, and will edit the existing articles in the series soon to illustrate the differences.

Thanks Eyal

Another description for Adapter would be wrapper. As such, I think that MouseAdapter could be considered to follow the Adapter pattern.

James

Thanks Eyal

Another description for Adapter would be wrapper. As such, I think that MouseAdapter could be considered to follow the Adapter pattern.

James

Thanks for the link - that is a really good list of downsides to the pattern. I've added these on to the end of the article, and will keep the downsides in mind for future articles in the series.

Thanks for the link - that is a really good list of downsides to the pattern. I've added these on to the end of the article, and will keep the downsides in mind for future articles in the series.

Thanks for the link - that is a really good list of downsides to the pattern. I've added these on to the end of the article, and will keep the downsides in mind for future articles in the series.

I read on page 25 in their presentation that there would be:

- Focus on Java EE6, Java ME, and Scripting
– Increased focus on Mobile Development and Scripting with Dynamic Languages

So I think that we'll see more on the scripting/JavaFX side of things that NetBeans is doing really well with.

I read on page 25 in their presentation that there would be:

- Focus on Java EE6, Java ME, and Scripting
– Increased focus on Mobile Development and Scripting with Dynamic Languages

So I think that we'll see more on the scripting/JavaFX side of things that NetBeans is doing really well with.

I read on page 25 in their presentation that there would be:

- Focus on Java EE6, Java ME, and Scripting
– Increased focus on Mobile Development and Scripting with Dynamic Languages

So I think that we'll see more on the scripting/JavaFX side of things that NetBeans is doing really well with.

I read on page 25 in their presentation that there would be:

- Focus on Java EE6, Java ME, and Scripting
– Increased focus on Mobile Development and Scripting with Dynamic Languages

So I think that we'll see more on the scripting/JavaFX side of things that NetBeans is doing really well with.

Hi Alessandro

Thanks for the reply - on one hand I agree with you, that there is no point in filling up your CV with meaningless technologies. But in order to stay sharp, and this is especially relevant to those who are out of the workforce right now, a developer should follow at least one of the above.

However, to your main point, there is much more to a good developer than just a list of technologies. A while back I wrote an article about this very topic: Making The Good Programmer Better. Maybe the qualities that I list there align better with what you say.

Thanks
James

Hi Alessandro

Thanks for the reply - on one hand I agree with you, that there is no point in filling up your CV with meaningless technologies. But in order to stay sharp, and this is especially relevant to those who are out of the workforce right now, a developer should follow at least one of the above.

However, to your main point, there is much more to a good developer than just a list of technologies. A while back I wrote an article about this very topic: Making The Good Programmer Better. Maybe the qualities that I list there align better with what you say.

Thanks
James

Hi Alessandro

Thanks for the reply - on one hand I agree with you, that there is no point in filling up your CV with meaningless technologies. But in order to stay sharp, and this is especially relevant to those who are out of the workforce right now, a developer should follow at least one of the above.

However, to your main point, there is much more to a good developer than just a list of technologies. A while back I wrote an article about this very topic: Making The Good Programmer Better. Maybe the qualities that I list there align better with what you say.

Thanks
James

If Oracle did go ahead with JavaOne 2010 (which is looking extremely unlikely) it would be a clear signal of their intent to support Java and the community. A merge of JavaOne talks with Oracle's OpenWorld conference wouldn't work as well as a dedicated conference.

I think it would be disappointing not to have a flagship conference for the Java community. Java developers do have other conference options but none compare with JavaOne for range and focus.

Compile on save is great - it's a feature I take for granted actually.

Compile on save is great - it's a feature I take for granted actually.

Compile on save is great - it's a feature I take for granted actually.

Compile on save is great - it's a feature I take for granted actually.

It's good to see the other point of view too, and we'll definitely even up the coverage by doing a similar piece on NetBeans.

I can see your point on 1, but you can switch off the the automatic build from the project menu.

Out of curiosity, do you still use Eclipse as your IDE, or have the points you listed above made you change to another IDE?

It's good to see the other point of view too, and we'll definitely even up the coverage by doing a similar piece on NetBeans.

I can see your point on 1, but you can switch off the the automatic build from the project menu.

Out of curiosity, do you still use Eclipse as your IDE, or have the points you listed above made you change to another IDE?

It's good to see the other point of view too, and we'll definitely even up the coverage by doing a similar piece on NetBeans.

I can see your point on 1, but you can switch off the the automatic build from the project menu.

Out of curiosity, do you still use Eclipse as your IDE, or have the points you listed above made you change to another IDE?

It's good to see the other point of view too, and we'll definitely even up the coverage by doing a similar piece on NetBeans.

I can see your point on 1, but you can switch off the the automatic build from the project menu.

Out of curiosity, do you still use Eclipse as your IDE, or have the points you listed above made you change to another IDE?

I agree, and I've long been a supporter of desktop development. I think there is some hope when we look at the projects available in Eclipse. e4 is in development at the moment, and provides a solution for the desktop or the browser. Additional concepts such as being a container for gadgets is quite nice.There are other solutions available for good desktop applications such as Riena and RAP.

But we do need to focus more on the desktop. JavaFX is a step in the right direction, but it would be really nice to see more enhancements in Swing and technologies such as Java3D/JOGL.

I think that it would be good for Oracle to keep MySQL. I'd be interested to see what they can add. Even though the survey looks like MySQL usage would decline, I find it difficult to see it losing too much ground as it is so established.

James

Looks fantastic - really shows off Netbeans well.

Thanks for the comment. I might be the only one here who thinks so, but I'm not sure if Java is really falling behind on the language front. I've yet to see a problem that I couldn't solve with Java as it is, and with the libraries available. I'm definitely missing the examples and cases here that highlight what people need that Java doesn't have - and would appreciate it if anyone could give examples.

Thanks for the comment. I might be the only one here who thinks so, but I'm not sure if Java is really falling behind on the language front. I've yet to see a problem that I couldn't solve with Java as it is, and with the libraries available. I'm definitely missing the examples and cases here that highlight what people need that Java doesn't have - and would appreciate it if anyone could give examples.

You raise an interesting point Mike. We do seem to obsess about keeping things inside the browser. But I guess this trend is for a good reason - are the general public, who use our applications, wary of things that install onto their desktop from a weblink?

You raise an interesting point Mike. We do seem to obsess about keeping things inside the browser. But I guess this trend is for a good reason - are the general public, who use our applications, wary of things that install onto their desktop from a weblink?

You raise an interesting point Mike. We do seem to obsess about keeping things inside the browser. But I guess this trend is for a good reason - are the general public, who use our applications, wary of things that install onto their desktop from a weblink?

Thanks Vincenzo,

GWT is one of those technologies I've read a lot about, but never got to use in an application. Maybe it's time I gave it a go.

James

Thanks Vincenzo,

GWT is one of those technologies I've read a lot about, but never got to use in an application. Maybe it's time I gave it a go.

James

Thanks Vincenzo,

GWT is one of those technologies I've read a lot about, but never got to use in an application. Maybe it's time I gave it a go.

James

Hi Kevin, thanks for those additions.

I guess I proved my point about bias by not including GWT, Pivot etc. GWT definitely deserves a mention.

There's certainly a lot out there.

Hi Kevin, thanks for those additions.

I guess I proved my point about bias by not including GWT, Pivot etc. GWT definitely deserves a mention.

There's certainly a lot out there.

Hi Kevin, thanks for those additions.

I guess I proved my point about bias by not including GWT, Pivot etc. GWT definitely deserves a mention.

There's certainly a lot out there.

I think this article is worthy of mention in both sources as e4 could be an interesting choice of platform for any Java developers. As it's focussed more on the framework/platform side of things rather than being an IDE/Tooling article, I think it's fair.

James

I think this article is worthy of mention in both sources as e4 could be an interesting choice of platform for any Java developers. As it's focussed more on the framework/platform side of things rather than being an IDE/Tooling article, I think it's fair.

James

I think this article is worthy of mention in both sources as e4 could be an interesting choice of platform for any Java developers. As it's focussed more on the framework/platform side of things rather than being an IDE/Tooling article, I think it's fair.

James

Good point, getting things done is very important.

And about latest & greatest, it definitely is a case of taking the chance, putting in the time to research and have a good reason before going for the next big thing

Thanks
James

Good point, getting things done is very important.

And about latest & greatest, it definitely is a case of taking the chance, putting in the time to research and have a good reason before going for the next big thing

Thanks
James

Good point, getting things done is very important.

And about latest & greatest, it definitely is a case of taking the chance, putting in the time to research and have a good reason before going for the next big thing

Thanks
James

Good point, getting things done is very important.

And about latest & greatest, it definitely is a case of taking the chance, putting in the time to research and have a good reason before going for the next big thing

Thanks
James

I'm disappointed about that too, but apparently it'll be coming to other countries soon.

I'm disappointed about that too, but apparently it'll be coming to other countries soon.

That's strange. According the the 1.1.1 release notes, 64bit Vista is supported : https://visualvm.dev.java.net/relnotes.html

I wonder if you'll have more success with the downloadable version? Let us know
James

That's strange. According the the 1.1.1 release notes, 64bit Vista is supported : https://visualvm.dev.java.net/relnotes.html

I wonder if you'll have more success with the downloadable version? Let us know
James

Nice list Anthony.

A merge between JRockit and HotSpot would be very nice.

Hi

This isn't my book - we're just giving away free chapters thanks to a collaboration with Manning. The book is written by Tariq Ahmed and Jon Hirsch.

Flex is an important part of the RIA stack, and as it can integrate with Java I feel it's fair to have it on Javalobby

James

Hi

This isn't my book - we're just giving away free chapters thanks to a collaboration with Manning. The book is written by Tariq Ahmed and Jon Hirsch.

Flex is an important part of the RIA stack, and as it can integrate with Java I feel it's fair to have it on Javalobby

James

Hi

This isn't my book - we're just giving away free chapters thanks to a collaboration with Manning. The book is written by Tariq Ahmed and Jon Hirsch.

Flex is an important part of the RIA stack, and as it can integrate with Java I feel it's fair to have it on Javalobby

James

I can see what you mean Piero, but take a look at e4 and you'll see how it really is streets ahead of what JavaFX or Swing can provide.

EclipseLink is a great project too. I'm not 100% sure on Oracle's reason for using Eclipse rather than Apache. Maybe the licence was more agreeable?

I can see what you mean Piero, but take a look at e4 and you'll see how it really is streets ahead of what JavaFX or Swing can provide.

EclipseLink is a great project too. I'm not 100% sure on Oracle's reason for using Eclipse rather than Apache. Maybe the licence was more agreeable?

I can see what you mean Piero, but take a look at e4 and you'll see how it really is streets ahead of what JavaFX or Swing can provide.

EclipseLink is a great project too. I'm not 100% sure on Oracle's reason for using Eclipse rather than Apache. Maybe the licence was more agreeable?

Hi Denis

I ran this using Gailileo 3.5M6 and the latest release of Riena. All fully tested

James

Hi Denis

I ran this using Gailileo 3.5M6 and the latest release of Riena. All fully tested

James

Hi Denis

I ran this using Gailileo 3.5M6 and the latest release of Riena. All fully tested

James

Thanks Slim!

Should appear just at the bottom of the article : http://java.dzone.com/sites/all/files/RienaExample.zip

Thanks Slim!

Should appear just at the bottom of the article : http://java.dzone.com/sites/all/files/RienaExample.zip

Thanks Slim!

Should appear just at the bottom of the article : http://java.dzone.com/sites/all/files/RienaExample.zip

Thanks Tom

I see what you mean, and it has crossed my mind that this is another approach to the same problem. But I think projects in Eclipse work closely enough, and that there could be some crossover with what Riena does and what ECF provides in remote services. I'm sure we'll see one recommended approach to remote services soon enough, at least in the Eclipse community

James

Thanks Tom

I see what you mean, and it has crossed my mind that this is another approach to the same problem. But I think projects in Eclipse work closely enough, and that there could be some crossover with what Riena does and what ECF provides in remote services. I'm sure we'll see one recommended approach to remote services soon enough, at least in the Eclipse community

James

Thanks Tom

I see what you mean, and it has crossed my mind that this is another approach to the same problem. But I think projects in Eclipse work closely enough, and that there could be some crossover with what Riena does and what ECF provides in remote services. I'm sure we'll see one recommended approach to remote services soon enough, at least in the Eclipse community

James

I noticed the lack of the Calendar enhancements alright - not sure about that one.

The point you raise on the impact of a buyout on JDK7 is interesting. When you consider the way that Eclipse is run by IBM (in a pretty open source way), maybe OpenJDK would be the official version now?

I think in 2008 we started to see a trend of Java being re-focussed (and rightly so) to be more than just desktop or server. JavaFX/RIA (and Android) brings us more into mobile devices.
OSGi (and the modularisation that's coming up in Java7) is also a big help towards reducing the footprint of Java applications - this will be good for devices too.

Also, I think that one of the biggest trends in 2008 was building languages on top of the JVM. It's all looking good for Java in 2009.

James

It would be great if there was no need to support it anymore. I know I upgraded as soon as IE7 was available. But I suppose there's a lot of companies where they just have policies to keep a certain browser - sometimes due to a fear that their internal webapp wasn't tested on IE7.

It's a pity, but IE8 should make IE6 old news :)

That is pretty cool - the lightweight/heavyweight thing has caused problems for me in the past. Great to see the effort still being put into Swing bug fixes

Great post Tom. As I mentioned on your blog, I'm sure we're all getting too hung up on how to get a process working and forgetting the real principles behind the agile manifesto. If we kept referring to these principles as best practises for working, we'd have a stronger industry. But I think we're getting there!

James

Get involved in open source projects. If you're a university student, now is a good time. You'll learn a lot more about the industry by getting into those projects than through any lectures!

I agree with Geertjan here, and am surprised that someone finds a problem with this announcement. As well as DZone being a place for articles and tips/tutorials relating to various technologies, we have always published announcements relevant to particular zones.

Announcements like this let people see some examples of what is being done with Java.

James

I agree with Geertjan here, and am surprised that someone finds a problem with this announcement. As well as DZone being a place for articles and tips/tutorials relating to various technologies, we have always published announcements relevant to particular zones.

Announcements like this let people see some examples of what is being done with Java.

James

I agree with Geertjan here, and am surprised that someone finds a problem with this announcement. As well as DZone being a place for articles and tips/tutorials relating to various technologies, we have always published announcements relevant to particular zones.

Announcements like this let people see some examples of what is being done with Java.

James

I agree with Geertjan here, and am surprised that someone finds a problem with this announcement. As well as DZone being a place for articles and tips/tutorials relating to various technologies, we have always published announcements relevant to particular zones.

Announcements like this let people see some examples of what is being done with Java.

James

I agree with Geertjan here, and am surprised that someone finds a problem with this announcement. As well as DZone being a place for articles and tips/tutorials relating to various technologies, we have always published announcements relevant to particular zones.

Announcements like this let people see some examples of what is being done with Java.

James

I agree with Geertjan here, and am surprised that someone finds a problem with this announcement. As well as DZone being a place for articles and tips/tutorials relating to various technologies, we have always published announcements relevant to particular zones.

Announcements like this let people see some examples of what is being done with Java.

James

I agree with Geertjan here, and am surprised that someone finds a problem with this announcement. As well as DZone being a place for articles and tips/tutorials relating to various technologies, we have always published announcements relevant to particular zones.

Announcements like this let people see some examples of what is being done with Java.

James

I agree with Geertjan here, and am surprised that someone finds a problem with this announcement. As well as DZone being a place for articles and tips/tutorials relating to various technologies, we have always published announcements relevant to particular zones.

Announcements like this let people see some examples of what is being done with Java.

James

I agree with Geertjan here, and am surprised that someone finds a problem with this announcement. As well as DZone being a place for articles and tips/tutorials relating to various technologies, we have always published announcements relevant to particular zones.

Announcements like this let people see some examples of what is being done with Java.

James

I agree with Geertjan here, and am surprised that someone finds a problem with this announcement. As well as DZone being a place for articles and tips/tutorials relating to various technologies, we have always published announcements relevant to particular zones.

Announcements like this let people see some examples of what is being done with Java.

James

Interesting article Cornel. I've been wondering about this area recently and how it's actually possible.

Interesting article Cornel. I've been wondering about this area recently and how it's actually possible.

Interesting article Cornel. I've been wondering about this area recently and how it's actually possible.

Thanks Alex, sounds like a nice quick way to get going. I guess there's always a danger of over-architecting, especially with the wealth of web frameworks available.

Thanks Alex, sounds like a nice quick way to get going. I guess there's always a danger of over-architecting, especially with the wealth of web frameworks available.

Thanks Alex, sounds like a nice quick way to get going. I guess there's always a danger of over-architecting, especially with the wealth of web frameworks available.

Hi Taylor

That sounds quite interesting, and a similar stack to what I would expect for a web app these days. I will definitely take a look at this.

James

Hi Taylor

That sounds quite interesting, and a similar stack to what I would expect for a web app these days. I will definitely take a look at this.

James

I'd like to think that the IT industry is tougher after going through the bubble burst.

Very true Thomas - but then I wonder if you're measuring the coverage of manual tests are you then just getting metrics for the sake of it. Ideally, TDD should be automated.

Very true Thomas - but then I wonder if you're measuring the coverage of manual tests are you then just getting metrics for the sake of it. Ideally, TDD should be automated.

In my experience, the code coverage balance is a delicate one. Code in the UI layer, or generated code, can prove difficult when trying to achieve a high percentage (unless you just have a policy to not include that type of code).

Another important point for me is that code coverage metrics/goals are not enforced on the developer by managers etc, but that it is a natural by-product of TDD. All developers would like high code coverage, but not at the cost of developing other features.
It's a terrible thing when tests are just written to achieve a good code coverage metric.

James

Very interesting points Jacek. And maybe I'm wrong about Closures. My main concern is that I don't want Java getting too bloated - I could be worrying about nothing.
It seems building on the VM with languages like Groovy seems to be the thing to do these days rather than adding to JDK itself.

Very interesting points Jacek. And maybe I'm wrong about Closures. My main concern is that I don't want Java getting too bloated - I could be worrying about nothing.
It seems building on the VM with languages like Groovy seems to be the thing to do these days rather than adding to JDK itself.

Very interesting points Jacek. And maybe I'm wrong about Closures. My main concern is that I don't want Java getting too bloated - I could be worrying about nothing.
It seems building on the VM with languages like Groovy seems to be the thing to do these days rather than adding to JDK itself.

It's true we could have closures. But just because C# has them doesn't make it necessary that Java has. Personally, I'd like to see what the addition of closures would really help out with?

It's true we could have closures. But just because C# has them doesn't make it necessary that Java has. Personally, I'd like to see what the addition of closures would really help out with?

It's true we could have closures. But just because C# has them doesn't make it necessary that Java has. Personally, I'd like to see what the addition of closures would really help out with?

It's true we could have closures. But just because C# has them doesn't make it necessary that Java has. Personally, I'd like to see what the addition of closures would really help out with?

Nicely put Daniel. Thanks to everyone so far for their insightful comments.

James

Nicely put Daniel. Thanks to everyone so far for their insightful comments.

James

Nicely put Daniel. Thanks to everyone so far for their insightful comments.

James

Nicely put Daniel. Thanks to everyone so far for their insightful comments.

James

Sidewinder,
That's a good idea for an article - we have just such an article in the pipeline. I expect we'll have it here on JavaLobby in the next 2 weeks.

James

Interesting article Meera. For a start, I much prefer hard copies of books - just to have them on the shelf. Also, I've found that I understand things a lot more by working through the samples, even though that takes more time.

True, books are expensive - I purchase based on other people's reviews, or if the author is well known. Of course there are those books that get such good recommendations from other developers I have to buy them.

I'm not sure I have your level of addiction :)

One drawback to technical books is that the API information can be out of date by the time the book is published...

Good article Sara

Well I've been reading Emergent Design by Scott Bain. While not purely on the topic of the usability, he does point out something important - that Software Development is an immature field. We're fickle, we want to keep up with the latest technologies just in case. But there's no point in doing this if the product we deliver isn't what the customer really wants/needs.

We always need to keep the big picture in mind, and ensure that what we're conjuring up satisfies those requirements. If it's new technologies/libraries that we want to play with, prototype these in your feasability study or in your own personal projects.
That's just my 2c.

James

If anyone wants to read my interview with Scott, here it is - http://java.dzone.com/articles/emergent-design-evolutionary-n

James

Great interview Schalk! It's good to see accessibility being given the attention it deserves

I'd have to add in The Pragmatic Programmer to that list. One of the best books I've read, and it's one you can keep coming back to.

James

I agree Johan. We're looking at a very interesting trend in Java where what we write really will be everywhere. It's good that we're getting there at last. I think the fact that people have finally taken notice of OSGi has really helped us here.

James

Thanks Maxim :) It's a great picture - I couldn't help myself.

Exactly - well it's Google 1 Sun 0 when it comes to the conference logo!

What I got out of JavaONE:

• OSGi gains momentum in the Java community
• SpringSource is really taking off
• If what goes into JavaFX mixes well with the core platform, we've got a bright future

This is really good news - I'm happy to see that the platform isn't going to suffer.
Dmitri, Fabrizio - thanks for the updates.
This is the kind of information that is missing in discussions in the aftermath of JavaONE

Well, I've read that the CTO is due to leave Facebook....
according to sources close to the company, D’Angelo felt his responsibilities no longer fit well with his skills and interests.

Could be another factor..

I'm not sure about the answer there Jacek - but I would also be quite disappointed if it's limited to JavaFX - that would be like Sun turning their back on the core Java desktop developers.

Does anyone have any information on this?

I'm not sure about the answer there Jacek - but I would also be quite disappointed if it's limited to JavaFX - that would be like Sun turning their back on the core Java desktop developers.

Does anyone have any information on this?

I'm not sure about the answer there Jacek - but I would also be quite disappointed if it's limited to JavaFX - that would be like Sun turning their back on the core Java desktop developers.

Does anyone have any information on this?

I'm not sure about the answer there Jacek - but I would also be quite disappointed if it's limited to JavaFX - that would be like Sun turning their back on the core Java desktop developers.

Does anyone have any information on this?

I'm not sure about the answer there Jacek - but I would also be quite disappointed if it's limited to JavaFX - that would be like Sun turning their back on the core Java desktop developers.

Does anyone have any information on this?

I'm not sure about the answer there Jacek - but I would also be quite disappointed if it's limited to JavaFX - that would be like Sun turning their back on the core Java desktop developers.

Does anyone have any information on this?

Great interview - simplified enterprise application development is very welcome, as is this strong utilisation of OSGi.

I look forward to trying this out.

It's a very interesting point. I think that the temptation is to just use the last version that fulfilled your own licence setup and stick with that, hoping for the best.

Then, when it comes to the stage where you need something fixed in that library, it's time to look at alternative solutions, which is a good thing. Rather than becoming too dependent on any one library, it's good to continuously shop around for a better deal

James

This piece of technology is really interesting, and there's nothing wrong with applying proven techniques to a new field. The idea of a smart home is something that appeals to us all and it's great to see some open source Java libraries helping with home automation.

Congratulations on the JAX award nomination!

It's very interesting to see. Another point you could take from this is that people are finding use for Spring outside of the typical J2EE scenarios, which would be very good news.

Ya - I wonder what that bump is about just before Dec 07. In fact, I thought that was the quiet time for employment. I took a look on Indeed.com, and .NET seems more popular there.

I really want to see what's going on in the European market. And I'm hoping we aren't hitting a Java jobs recession

I'd have to go with SpringSource too. The changes that their portfolio of products make for developers are fantastic. They've made programming simpler with their architecture, and much more enjoyable.

There's some more information on e4 over on this article : http://www.adtmag.com/article.aspx?id=22310

Keep those ideas coming in - a lot of these can be covered in a 3.4/3.5 release rather than needing to wait for the next major release.

The comment about lack of documentation is interesting. If there's anything you'd like documented/explained better, please let us know and we'll try and cover it in EclipseZone.

Some interesting points in there David

I think switching back to Java perspective automatically is counter-intuitive.
It depends on what you want to do next, but chances are you're going to make some changes to a class that's open in an editor and run the debug session again. But then, that's just my use of the IDE.

But I agree on point 1 - it would be nice if it autorefreshed files changed outside the IDE, and maybe prompting the automatic import would be good (Ctrl-Space will autocomplete and import however).

Some interesting points in there David

I think switching back to Java perspective automatically is counter-intuitive.
It depends on what you want to do next, but chances are you're going to make some changes to a class that's open in an editor and run the debug session again. But then, that's just my use of the IDE.

But I agree on point 1 - it would be nice if it autorefreshed files changed outside the IDE, and maybe prompting the automatic import would be good (Ctrl-Space will autocomplete and import however).

Some interesting points in there David

I think switching back to Java perspective automatically is counter-intuitive.
It depends on what you want to do next, but chances are you're going to make some changes to a class that's open in an editor and run the debug session again. But then, that's just my use of the IDE.

But I agree on point 1 - it would be nice if it autorefreshed files changed outside the IDE, and maybe prompting the automatic import would be good (Ctrl-Space will autocomplete and import however).

If the contract for the iPhone wasn't so expensive in Ireland I'd consider it.
I think the Consumer JRE/Update N (https://jdk6.dev.java.net/6uNea.html) should make it possible to put a full JRE on the iPhone - it's about time we were able to have good quality mobile Java applications.

Of course it'd be really cool if it was possible to put Android on your iPhone.

well spotted Christian!

well spotted Christian!

well spotted Christian!

well spotted Christian!

Well done to everyone on that list. And of course a special congratulations to fellow Zone Leader Chris!

Thanks for all your comments.

What you say is very interesting Brian, and you're right with your last point - these are characteristics of good software development. However, to get these done properly you have to be thinking agile - even if your process isn't strictly agile itself.

Thanks for all your comments.

What you say is very interesting Brian, and you're right with your last point - these are characteristics of good software development. However, to get these done properly you have to be thinking agile - even if your process isn't strictly agile itself.

Thanks for all your comments.

What you say is very interesting Brian, and you're right with your last point - these are characteristics of good software development. However, to get these done properly you have to be thinking agile - even if your process isn't strictly agile itself.

Thanks for all your comments.

What you say is very interesting Brian, and you're right with your last point - these are characteristics of good software development. However, to get these done properly you have to be thinking agile - even if your process isn't strictly agile itself.

Thanks for your comment Michael - it's a very good point.

I've heard this from a number of developers and I hope to address these concerns in an upcoming article showing how to trim down Eclipse to what you need.

Thanks for your comment Michael - it's a very good point.

I've heard this from a number of developers and I hope to address these concerns in an upcoming article showing how to trim down Eclipse to what you need.

Thanks for your comment Michael - it's a very good point.

I've heard this from a number of developers and I hope to address these concerns in an upcoming article showing how to trim down Eclipse to what you need.

Thanks for your comment Michael - it's a very good point.

I've heard this from a number of developers and I hope to address these concerns in an upcoming article showing how to trim down Eclipse to what you need.

I think that the complexity of Eclipse is just people getting used to the technologies involved. With more documentation and tutorials, I think the learning curve will start to diminish.

Thanks for the feedback guys.

Ian - thanks for the updates. I definately need to take a closer look at what DLTK provides.
And I will look at Hibachi and Photran.

I'll add the JBoss Developer bundle to the list too.
Good to have the real link to CFEclipse too - thanks :)

If anyone has other additions, or would like to provide a full evaluation of any Eclipse Tools, let me know.
It'd be great to keep this resource alive.

James

Thanks for the feedback guys.

Ian - thanks for the updates. I definately need to take a closer look at what DLTK provides.
And I will look at Hibachi and Photran.

I'll add the JBoss Developer bundle to the list too.
Good to have the real link to CFEclipse too - thanks :)

If anyone has other additions, or would like to provide a full evaluation of any Eclipse Tools, let me know.
It'd be great to keep this resource alive.

James

Thanks for the feedback guys.

Ian - thanks for the updates. I definately need to take a closer look at what DLTK provides.
And I will look at Hibachi and Photran.

I'll add the JBoss Developer bundle to the list too.
Good to have the real link to CFEclipse too - thanks :)

If anyone has other additions, or would like to provide a full evaluation of any Eclipse Tools, let me know.
It'd be great to keep this resource alive.

James

Great idea.

Especially looking forward to the Eclipse & Spring ones.