Looks like the appeals court throw out the ruling that would have completed Microsoft to include Sun’s Java VM in their products. Interesting timing since DELL, Compaq and other PC makers just announced deals with Sun where they will include the Sun JVM as part of software packages installed on new PC’s.
Does this really even matter? Isn’t most Java development done in the corporate environment? Does the regular non-technical user that’s just surfing really missing out on anything because his/her version of IE doesn’t include the latest VM? Aren’t applets from the Internet consumption side really dead? I guess I just don’t see this as a big deal.
JBoss Chooses Java Data Objects
June 26, 2003
This is a pretty interesting development. BEA and IBM have decided to not support JDO as part of their J2EE offering. If JBoss decides on using JDO for their persistence strategy, the move could validate the JDO die-hards and offer an truly viable open-source JDO product.
I’m also interested to see if JDO continue to mature inside Sun. For a while, it was pretty obvious Sun couldn’t figure out how to position JDO as it competed directly with the CMP. BEA made it pretty clear at eWorld that they had no intention of supporting JDO. With all the engineering effort in supporting Entity bean (CMP & BMP), JDBC and Rowsets, I can see how it would be difficult to support another persistence spec. But this would be a big misstep for BEA if JDO is widely accepted.
All these specs.. ahhhhh.. It’s like the old Chinese curse (or is it a blessing?) – May you live in interesting times. I think we are 🙂
From the ServerSide.com. This white paper takes an in-depth look at various open-source tools that can be used to get started on Web services development. It walks you through the development lifecycle of how an existing Java asset is exposed as a Web service interface using Eclipse for development, Apache Axis and Tomcat for creation of the WS, Ant for deployment and PushToTest for testing.
White Paper: Leveraging Open Source for Web Services Development
Tomcat: The Definitive Guide
June 25, 2003
O’Reilly announced a new book on Jakarta Tomcat, the reference servlet/jsp engine implementation. This book covers all major platforms, including Windows, Solaris, Linux, and Mac OS X, contains details on Tomcat configuration files, and even has a quick-start guide to get developers up and running with Java servlets and JavaServer Pages.
Tomcat: The Definitive Guide is supposed to have detailed instructions on installation, configuration, and maintenance for admin and deployment information for users.
Tomcat is probably the widest installed servlet/jsp container out there. Can’t wait to get my copy and post a detailed review. O’Reilly has posted the chapter on security online. Check it out @ http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/tomcat/chapter/ch06.pdf
The 2nd edition of the J2EE development bible, Core J2EE Patterns: Best Practices and Design Strategies is out and the authors do not disappoint. I had given the first edition of this book 5 stars as the authors of the book had taken lessons learned from their experiences in developing and deploying J2EE applications and distilled all that knowledge into fifteen different design patterns.
Even if you own the first edition, I would recommend you get the 2nd edition as original 15 patterns have been completely revised and updated, including new implementation strategies and updates relating to the changes in the J2EE specification. J2EE application development is a fairly complex process and just knowing the API does not enable you to write good software. Most people spent several years writing software and learn good design techniques with experience based on what’s worked in the past and what hasn’t worked.
Another reason to buy this book is the whole Refactoring section. The authors take Martin Fowler’s refactoring idea to the next level and bring it in the J2EE arena. I feel the price of the book is worth it, just for that section.
In addition to the 15 patterns, the authors introduce 6 design patterns to the J2EE pattern catalog. The new patterns include Context Object and Application Controller for the Presentation tier, Application Service and Business Object for the Business Tier and Domain Store and Web Service Broker for the Integration Tier.
I highly recommend this book to anyone doing any J2EE development. This book is very easy and light read and it really belongs in your library. I bet anyone that reads even parts of this book will end up writing better, more manageable code that’s cleaner, modular, reusable, and loosely coupled. As Martin Fowler says in the foreword, ‘Don’t build an enterprise bean without it (this book)’. Can Martin Fowler be wrong? 🙂
If you are looking for a ‘cookbook’ type book that overwhelms you with 200 pages of Java code, this is not it. Instead if you want to learn how to architect simple, flexible and easy to maintain systems, you need to buy and read this book.
Pocket PC 2003 released
June 24, 2003
Microsoft released the latest version of their handheld operating system, Pocket PC 2003. It will be interesting to see if this is just a bug-fix or a true new release with new features. A couple of areas that needed fixing were the WiFi and Bluetooth support and I’m reading that is handled in this release.
I used to be an old Palm guy, back in the day. And then my brother gave me Compaq Ipaq and I never looked back. The usability at that time was just vastly superior that the competing Palm product. I owned several versions of the Compaq Ipaq’s and Toshiba’s Pocket PC PDA of the last few years and just can’t see myself going back to Palm.
Linux is also becoming a contendar in the hand-held space and I wonder if the new Zaurus’sare going to be able to make a dent in the enterprise space.
Pocket PC 2003 articles.
MACS and Java
June 19, 2003
Over the past 2 years, I have noticed an interesting trend among the Java developer community. The trend is to move to Apple PowerBook as the laptop of choice away from any Wintel or Lintel alternatives. Are the Mac’s better laptops or is this just a ‘follow the crowd’ mentality driving people to buy Mac’s? Is the move to Mac’s influenced by the UNIX OS under the covers or is this just a pure ‘I hate Microsoft’ sentiment?
I’ve been an proud iPod user for about 2 months now and so I am drinking a little of that Apple Kool-Aid, but I’m not sure I’m ready to give up totally on XP. I am a Linux user and run it on my other box that acts as my Weblogic, JBoss, mySQL and CVS server but I still running IDEA on XP over Linux. Maybe I just need to try out the new 17 inch PowerBook to see if I give into the allure of OS X and Apple.
The new PowerBooks are impressive. Why can’t DELL, Toshiba and Compaq take a page from Apple’s book and create some sleek looking, ergonomically usable laptops instead of the standard clunky old boxes? Oh well, I guess I’ll need to head down to the Apple store to see if I’m just missing something or this is the latest fad.
Geek Heaven :)
June 17, 2003
I’m in total geek heaven. 🙂 James Duncan Davidson, the creator of ANT & Tomcat, author, speaker and Uber Java geek extraordinar has a link to my blogs as part of his ‘Wisconsin Symposium Report’. Life doesn’t get any better than that. 🙂
today.java.net
June 16, 2003
Looks like OReilly has teamed up with Sun and CollabNet to produce java.net, a site that’s designed to be the ultimate watering hole for the Java developer community.
O’Reilly’s producing technical content for the site, including Java Today, and setting up forums, wikis, and blogs for collaboration.
Wonder what this collaboration with CollabNet’s SourceCast will do to SourceForge? I guess time will tell.
iPod Heaven
June 16, 2003
I’m in iPod heaven. My brother got me the new 30GB iPod for my birthday and I am totally in love with this MP3 player. Props to Apple for creating this incredible device and I love the new dock and remote that’s included as part of the package. I’m using this with my Windows PC and syncing works just beautifully via. MusicMatch Jukebox. I also use ephPod to sync my Outlook calendar and contacts.
Just started exploring FM transmitters and can’t wait for Griffin Technologies to release the new iTrip FM Transmitter for iPod. Happy Road Trip!! 🙂
No fluff Just Stuff – Day 1
June 15, 2003
Just attended the No Fluff, Just Stuff Java Symposium in Milwaukee and it totally kicked butt. Met with people like Dave Thomas (The Pragmatic Programmer), James Duncan Davidson (ANT, Tomcat and lots more), Jason Hunter (The servlet book), Brute Tate (Bitter Java/EJB), Robert Martin (OO & XP), Mike Clark (JUnit) and a host of new people like Stuart Halloway (DevelopMentor) who hosted really great sessions on Java classloading, and XML Schema.
Overall, this was an incredible session and a great value for the money spent. Being able to interact with these people on a one-on-one basis is just great and the sessions are focused with tons of technical material unlike other conferences.
A must-attend event when the show comes to your town or state. More detailed report to follow.
Welcome to my new blog
June 15, 2003
Welcome to Vinny’s Blogs. I first discovered blogs at the 2000 JavaOne where the Swing GUI team demo’d the Java Swing application for Blogger. I created an account with Blogger and am finally using it — Just took me about 3 years to get it 🙂
Vinny Carpenter 