ERIC BRUNO'S BLOG

Java: The Daily Grind.

May 2006

Although a lot of excitement and growth in the Java community is focused on Java ME, and the billions of devices that run Mobile Java, Enterprise Java is still an area of innovation. The excitement is growing with the recent release Java EE 5.

SOA and Java EE 5

Sun recently published an article which presents the architectural concepts and language constructs necessary to develop a SOA composite application in Java EE 5. It also presents an example application, deployed in the Java Business Integration (JBI) environment. The example uses HTTP/SOAP binding components and WS-BPEL and Java EE service engines, illustrating how these components can be orchestrated to solve a business problem.

You should also check out the improved Java EE site, which has been updated to serve as a portal for all enterprise Java information. Here, you will find links to Java EE news, articles, SDK downloads, tools, Project Glassfish, and the Open Java EE community.

Web Services Interoperability Technology

Sun recently announced the availability of Web Services Interoperability Technology (WSIT), formerly Project Tango, which is an open-source project for Java and .Net interoperability. WSIT provides web service interoperability between the Java Platform and Microsoft's Windows Communications Foundation (aka Indigo). It’s built upon JAX-WS (Java API for XML Web Services), and is focused on four main categories: Messaging, Metadata, Security, and Quality-of-Service (QoS). Learn about it, try it out, and join the effort.

Distributed Application Management

Sapia has released Corus, which is an open-source framework that enables centralized control of distributed application processes. These applications can be plain-old Java apps built with a lightweight framework of your choice (distributed apps without an app server). Corus consists of a lightweight daemon implemented in Java. A Corus server is installed on a given host, and executes/monitors processes on that host. Multiple Corus daemons can be grouped by domain, which allows for clustered application deployment and process execution.

Posted by Eric Bruno at 10:27 AM  Permalink |

There was a lot of information released at JavaOne last week regarding Ajax from Sun and other companies; but what is "Reverse Ajax?"

Ajax Tools and Products

Sun has enhanced Java Studio Creator with Ajax components, and added an Ajax portal to their site; Tibco offers a product that integrates with their messaging and ESB software; BEA has integrated EJB3 with Ajax; Oracle has worked with Sun and others to introduce a bevy of Ajax-enabled products; IBM is working to integrate Ajax with Eclipse; and Wicket recently released version 1.2 of their Java/Ajax framework.

Don't Forget Swing

Sun had an alternate message at JavaOne: don't forget about Java applets and the new Swing components. A demo called Aerith, given by Romain Guy and Richard Bair, created quite a bit of interest both at JavaOne and online soon after. The demo shows how the latest Swing components, with a Java applet, can deliver fast, interactive, web-based content.

What is Reverse Ajax?

By now, everyone has heard of Ajax, and knows that it is a technique by which portions of a web browser's display can be updated dynamically when the user performs an operation (such as a key press, a mouse click, and so on).

Reverse Ajax is a technique that is similar, but allows for the unsolicited update of the content in a web page -- meaning no user action needs to initiate the update. This is useful when an important event occurs, such as a stock price change, or a news alert arrives. Read Jonathan Downes' blog entry for more information, along with some ideas on how to make reverse Ajax work.

Posted by Eric Bruno at 12:52 PM  Permalink |

Did you catch the slot car challenge at JavaOne last week? The goal was to guide a slot car around a large track equipped with sensors without falling off the track. The person who could control the car using real-time Java, and navigate the track in the shortest amount of time, won a Sun Ultra 20 workstation.

The Java Real-Time System is the first conformant commercial implementation of JSR-001, the Real-Time Specification for Java (RTSJ). Java Real-Time System (Java RTS or RTSJ) enables developers of real-time applications to take full advantage of the Java language ecosystem while maintaining the predictability of current real-time development platforms, delivering a very predictable, low-latency, modern software architecture for Java.

Some really cool RTSJ demos were given to those who attended CMP's Embedded Systems Conference in San Jose in April, including an inverted pendulum and a flying helicopter--both controlled with RTSJ running on embedded Solaris.

Greg Bolella and James Gosling enjoy the slot car challenge at JavaOne.

For more information about RTSJ, the JavaOne slot car challenge, and the future of the Java Realtime system, read the interview with RTSJ's creator, Greg Bollella.

Sun's Applet Deployment Guide for IE

A recent update to Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 included a change that alters the way users interact with applets in the browser. With this change, users can no longer directly interact with applets by default. Users are first required to manually activate the applet's user interface, before interacting with the applets. If the page has multiple applets, users have to activate each applet's user interface individually. Read the following Sun guide to learn how to work around this issue.

A Conversation with Sun's Bill Shannon

Version 5 of the Java Platform, Enterprise Edition (Java EE, formerly referred to as J2EE), has arrived. Its streamlined features offer added convenience, improved performance, and reduced development time, all of which enable developers to bring products to market faster.

To get an update on the Java EE 5 platform, read the Sun-posted interview with Java EE specification lead Bill Shannon, a Distinguished Engineer at Sun Microsystems.

JBoss releases Transactions, Web Server, and Messaging

JBoss has recently announced new releases to both its Java messaging and Java transactions software products. In addition, JBoss has partnered with Apache to offer a special version of the Apache-Jakarta Tomcat Java Servlet engine, integrated with the JBoss application server.

Web Services for Java ME

Interested in bringing the world of SOA and Web services to your mobile Java applications? Sun offers the Java ME edition of JAX-RPC, which allows Java ME-based software to serve or consume SOAP-based Web services. Read more in this article made available on Sun's Web site.

Open Source

Open source vendors, such as LogicBlaze , now offer entire suites of software to enable low-cost Java SOA-based software development.

This article discusses how LogicBlaze has launched an integrated suite of open source code that's designed to get businesses started with service-oriented architecture.

Project Open ESB

Sun has updated its sites around JBI and Open ESB to include new software, samples, and documentation. Project Open ESB implements an Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) runtime with sample service engines and binding components. Open ESB allows you to easily integrate enterprise applications and web services as loosely coupled composite applications. This allows you to seamlessly compose and recompose your composite applications, realizing the benefits of a true Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA).

JUnit Provides Java Unit-test Framework

JUnit.org is a Web site for the XUnit open-source testing framework for Java. JUnit is a regression testing framework written by Erich Gamma and Kent Beck, to write repeatable and automated tests. It is used by the developer who implements unit tests in Java. You can get more information, or download the latest framework, at junit.org.

Java Posse Interviews Tim Cramer (Sun's Director if Java Tools)

Listen to the Java Posse interview Podcast with Tim Cramer, who discusses why NetBeans is being chosen by more and more developers to build mobile Java applications, as well as Java Swing applications.

NetBeans 5.0/Motorola J2ME SDK

This technical article by the Motorola MotoCoder team shows how to develop Java ME applications for Motorola devices, such as the cool Motorola RAZR phone. It concludes "NetBeans enables developers to set up a UI-based application very quickly. It is especially useful for newcomers to J2ME development." Read the full article in PDF form here.

The NetBeans Partner Program

The NetBeans community has developed a partner program aimed at promoting awareness for the products and solutions that leverage NetBeans technology. The continuing support of these partners and their development with the NetBeans IDE and platform has helped build an ecosystem which includes market leaders and technology innovators. Learn how to become a NetBeans partner at http://www.netbeans.org/community/partners/howto.html

Eclipse Projects for Embedded Devices

In April, the Eclipse Foundation announced new project initiatives and releases for the Device Software Development Platform (DSDP) and C/C++ Development Tools (CDT) Projects, both increasingly popular with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and vendors of real-time operating systems (RTOSs), software development tools, and electronic design automation (EDA) tools. These new initiatives further extend the Eclipse ecosystem into the embedded and device software markets.

Flux 7.1 Released

Flux, a Java job scheduler, workflow engine, and BPM engine, has released version 7.1 of its flagship product. Flux 7.1 has added Ajax to its web-based Operations Console for graphically monitoring jobs and workflows in near-real-time. Read the full press-release at http://www.fluxcorp.com/news

Various Apache Software Releases

There have been several Apache and Apache-Jakarta project release over the past month. Below is a list of the most popular, along with brief descriptions:

• Apache Jackrabbit 1.0 - The Apache Jackrabbit project is an effort to build and maintain an open source implementation of the Content Repository for Java Technology API (JCR) specified in the Java Specification Request 170 (JSR-170).


• Apache MINA 0.9.3 - MINA (Multipurpose Infrastructure for Network Applications) is a network application framework which helps users develop high performance and high scalability network applications easily.


• Apache Maven 2.0.4 - contains bug fixes for:


-[MNG-2054] - Multiple Inheritance Exceptions

-[MNG-2186] - POM interpolation problem

-[MNG-2196] - Fails when parent module is not located a level above

-[MNG-2207] - Infinite Recursion problem

Book Reviews

• Wicked Cool Java, Brian D. Eubanks, No Starch Press


This book covers many areas of Java development, and offers tons of tips on how to use Java effectively. For example, if you want to know how to use the new features of Java 5 correctly, with excellent examples on the right ways to use them, this book is for you. There are tips on how to format strings, use the String class to perform regular expression parsing, process XML with DOM and SAX parsers, process newsfeeds with Java, build scientific and mathematical applications, create GUIs using XML, make music with Java, and even build Java-controlled robots with LEGO robot kits. The books offers hundreds of cool tips to do all sorts of things with Java that are somewhat out of the norm, yet useful. The writing is concise and to the point, and the code is accurate. Although I do advise you look through the table of contents to be sure the book covers topics you're interested in, I found that this book caused me to think about Java development in a new light, and gave me a lot of new ideas with which to use Java.



• Java Enterprise in a Nutshell (3rd edition), Farley, et al, O'Reilly


This is an update to an excellent book that every Java developer should have. If you don't own it, you should get it; if you own an older version, you should think about getting this updated version. Although the book is an excellent, thorough, resource for J2EE development (JSP, JSF, Servlets, EJBs, JMS, JavaMail), there is excellent coverage of Web service development topics (JAX-RPC, SAAJ, Java IDL) and other Java development topics (XML, JNDI, RMI, JDBC, Transactions). Added is coverage of open-source frameworks such as Ant, JUnit, Struts, Hibernate, and Java annotations. Again, this book is a requirement for all Java developers who need a thorough source of information on a wide-range of common Java development topics, with excellent examples that illustrate usage. This book is definitely one of my favorites.




• Java Testing and Design, Frank Cohen, Prentice Hall PTR


Visit TheServerSide.com for an online review this book, along with a free download offer for TheServerSide.com members.

Posted by Eric Bruno at 10:31 AM  Permalink |

JavaOne Update (May 17 & 18, 2006)

On Day Two of JavaOne, John Gage brought Oracle's Thomas Kurian to the stage to talk about Oracle's Java EE strategy and tools.

According to Kurian, Oracle sees three trends in Java application development:

• Adoption of Java SE 5 and Java EE 5
• Service-Oriented Architectures (SOA)
• Web 2.0

These three trends combined are have ushered in an era of rapid Java software development, and the general simplification of software development, deployment, and maintenance.

Java has matured, and these three trends prove it. Flexible business processes and the quick adaptation to change that technologies such as BPEL (affectionately pronounced "biple"), Open ESB, and JBI, bring to the table, enable corporations to be more agile and conducive to change. Combining these back-end technologies with client-side technologies such as Ajax and JSF help you deliver richer Internet-based applications that are almost as responsive and attractive as native desktop applications. Here is the new enterprise Java software stack:

-------------------------------------
UI COMPONENT MODEL
(Ajax, JSF, JSP)
-------------------------------------
SERVICE FABRIC
(BPEL, SOA, Orchestration)
-------------------------------------
BUSINESS LOGIC
(Persistence: EJB 3.0,
Federated services: SDO, REST, WSIF, JCA
Objects: POJOs)
-------------------------------------
DATA LAYER
(Database, XML)
-------------------------------------

Mixed into these layers are the binding services, such as PHP, Ruby on Rails, Spring, and JSR 223 (scripting of Java EE APIs and objects). Oracle's JBuilder tool support JavaScript for Ajax development, integrated with JavaServer Faces, making it easier to build and deploy rich, dynamic, web application interfaces.

Oracle announced that it is contributing its EJB 3 and JPA implementation as the open-source reference implementation for Java EE's new persistence model, as well as an EJB 3 design-time tool for Eclipse.

On Day Three of JavaOne, IBM's Erich Gamma and John Wiegard presented the successful software development process of the Eclipse Project. The presentation stressed some important points:

• Agility. Quick, repetative, iterations enable faster development, higher quality software, and happier developers.
  • Each step of development is repeated in short intervals.
  • Test cycles are limited in time, and result in higher quality
• Transparency. Schedules, milestones, and, and progress are available to the community. If dates are missed, everyone knows about it.

• Community involvement. Each phase of the development cycle invites members of the Eclipse community to contribute and provide feedback.

• Rhythm. Everything happens in predictable, repeatable, fashion. Repeating tasks makes everyone better at them, as opposed to long, drawn out, schedules that bog down the process and burn out the developers.
  

Gamma and Wiegard also had two important announcements to make regarding Eclipse:

• First, they are pleased to announce that Sun is working with them to create a Solaris build of Eclipse. This will be released soon.
• Second, they will soon release the Jazz tool for collaborative team software development tool. Jazz represents, visually, which developers are working on particular areas of code, progress, bug tracking, and release management.

Posted by Eric Bruno at 01:56 PM  Permalink |

SunSPOTs are Sun Microsystems Research Lab's wireless sensor devices that run Java on the bare metal, and do real cool, fun, things. Maybe they really don't do anything useful yet, but there are companies and organizations that have interesting uses for them.

SunSPOTs are based on a 32-bit ARM920T CPU and an 11 channel 2.4GHz radio. They currently have 4M of Flash, and 512K of RAM. In deep sleep mode they consume less than 40 microAmps, enabling them to (in theory) run for months. They also contain a three-axis accelerometer, light and temperature sensors, eight RGB LEDs, six analog inputs, and four high/low voltage outputs.

SunSPOTs run the Squawk JVM, which itself is mostly written in Java that runs on the bare metal (no OS required). The current implementation supports the Java ME CLDC 1.1 specification, with software float/double support. Writing a VM in Java is not as strange as it may seem--Sun claims that the Java bytecode representation for Squak is more efficient than the comporable C code. Additionally, using a technology called Suites, application class files are compressed and executed in-place. SunSPOTs also support Java Isolates, which are an implementation of JSR 121. Isolates allow multiple applications to run on one VM transparently, and treat applications as objects, enabling finite control and monitoring of Java ME applications.

The Sun SPOT system uses Java technology to up-level programming. Developers can write a program in Java, load it on a wireless sensor device, run it, debug it, as well as access low-level mechanisms-with standard Java IDEs. The inherent portability of Java makes it simpler to migrate applications among platforms and enables developers to build new wireless sensors devices using off-the-shelf hardware components. Java also eliminates or streamlines many of the low-level tasks of traditional development languages such as C, and for the millions of developers who already write code in Java there is little additional learning curve for building wireless sensor/transducer programs.

Researchers at Sun have added the ability to visually drag-and-drop applications (or simply move them programatically) across SunSPOT devices. The application literally shuts down on one device, and picks up execution on the new, target, device, just where it left off. Some uses for this include load-balancing applications across sensor devices, persistance, app migration from a device with low battery life to a newly-charged one, and "run home" behavior if an application experiences and error condition.

Uses for SunSPOTs

One of most popular uses of SunSPOTs are transducer Network Applications, including the following:

• Environmental monitoring
• Machine control
• Factory process management
• HVAC control
• Structure monitoring (bridges, buildings, etc.)
• Medical equipment and patient monitoring

Some other usage examples include self-aware package shipments, digital set-top boxes that monitor the environment, and cars that check that you didn't leave the iron, coffee maker, or stove on when you pull out of the driveway. See http://sunspotworld.com/action and http://makezine.com/faire/sponsexhib/ for some cool experiments using SunSPOTs.

Want one? Development kits will be offered by the summer of 2006 for $499 that include the following:

• 2 SunSPOTs
• 1 base station
• The Squak VM
• Java SDK
• NetBeans with applicable plugins
• USB cable

Posted by Eric Bruno at 01:03 AM  Permalink |

JavaOne, Day 1 - Tuesday, May 16, 2006

John Gage kicked off JavaOne this year stressing community, and asking everyone to register for the Java Community Process (JCP) as individuals or as a corporation.

The goal is to get everyone who works with Java to be part of Java's future. Go to jcp.org to sign up.

Jonathan Schwartz started his keynote announcing (somewhat tongue-in-cheek) that since he's known as a "software guy" and as a person who gives software away for free, Sun is now going to give away "free kit." Although this was meant as humor, it is in line with Sun's strategy to allow people to try their new Niagra-based servers free before purchasing.

Early in his keynote address, Jonathan called Ed Zander, CEO of Motorola, to the stage to talk about his company's commitment to Java. Ed went on to say that, as he sees it, mobile broadband will change the Java application space, as well as the application delivery and service spaces, radically as time passes. The power of Java on the mobile device was underscored by the statistic that Motorola alone outships the PC industry yearly with its mobile, Java-enabled, devices. The top three needs that Ed outlined for Sun and the Java community were DRM, security, and Java applications in general. In closing, Ed asked developers to check out Motorola's development site.

Some Key Announcements

Mark Shuttleworth of Canonical Software spoke about their commitment to supplying Linux desktop distribution for Java developers, called Ubunta. There was also two announcements (as subtle as they were)about a server-side Linux to be released on June 1, and an upcoming version of Linux for Sun's Niagra (Cool-threads) architecture.

Marc Fleury of JBoss came on stage wearing a red beret (a symbol of the Red Hat deal he could not speak of), and announced that JBoss is joining the NetBeans community, bringing the total NetBeans partners to over 100. Jonathon then proceeded to present Marc with a red and white t-shirt that said "I Love Netbeans" on it.

Rich Green, Sun's new executive vice president of software, came on stage to announce what is probably the biggest piece of news so far at JavaOne: Sun is releasing Java as open-source. It's no longer a question of "if." There are, admittedly, many details to work out yet. Rich stressed that with Java, compatability and consistency matters most. Therefore, any plan to open-source Java must not compromise this.

JMS and the Sun Java Message Queue server been released as open-source.

Other Java News

Jeff Jackson, senior vice president of Java development, announced that the Java EE 5 specification was approved unanimously. He stressed that Java EE 5 is here, it's production-ready, and available for download for the world to use today. Java EE 5 is 30% smaller in footprint, with a 30% decrease in startup time. It integrates Ajax, Web 2.0, EJB 3.0 / POJOs, SOA, and NetBeans in one environment that is
now 100% open-source.

Sun Studio Creator will be open-source and made part of NetBeans going forward, joining other parts of NetBeans that are open-source, such as the NetBeans Profiler, Matisse Builder, and Mobilty Pack.

Project Tango, the project meant to integrate Web-service offerings from both Sun and Microsoft, has been renamed the Web Service Interoperability Technology (WSIT).

BPEL orchestration, part of the NetBeans Enterprise Pack, is being made part of Sun's Open-ESB project, and will be released as open-source. The Java System Portal Server will also be released as open-source, and Sun announced a new name for the entire Java EE stack--OpenJava EE.

John Gage gave a demo of the new SavaJe phone, which is the first cell phone to implement the JSR 209 specification. This includes support for Swing applications, Java2D, and font anti-aliasing, making it much easier to read text written with Chinese characters.

Web Sites to Check Out

• New Ajax portal
  
• The aquarium
  
• Glassfish
  
• Java Studio Creator

Posted by Eric Bruno at 05:35 PM  Permalink |

The largest area of growth for Java is with mobile devices. A lot is happening in this area, and a lot is going take place at JavaOne next week regarding Java ME.

Java ME Overview

For a quick of review of exactly what Java ME consists of, click here. Read on for a list of some exciting news in the world of Java ME.

Java Device Test Suite (JDTS)

Planning to support Java ME on a mobile phone, set-top box, or other embedded device? You'd better checkout the Java Device Test Suite . The Java Device Test Suite (JDTS) simplifies quality assurance and reduces time-to-market for implementations of the Java 2 Platform, Micro Edition (J2ME), by providing comprehensive tests and a robust test manager to evaluate, validate, and verify the quality of implementations of the Connected Limited Device Configuration (CLDC) and the Mobile Information Device Profile (MIDP) on a particular device.

Java ME at JavaOne 2006

Java developers are powering the mobile explosion, fueled by a thirst for what's new and cutting-edge. From cell phones and smart cards to set-top boxes and printers, tomorrow's mobile applications are in your hands. Attend JavaOne and see the latest tools and techniques for developing and deploying mobile content, including the Java Platform, Micro Edition (Java ME) and Java Card platforms, Blu-ray and, the Java TV API, and more.

Check out the JavaOne 2006 Java ME Session Highlights. Also, get a preview of what Allen Lau of Tira Wireless has planned for the show.

Information Module Profile (IMP)

Hundreds of millions of mobile devices now support the Mobile Information Device Profile (MIDP), the most popular profile in the Micro Edition of the Java platform (Java ME), which requires a UI display, and a simple keyboard. However, there are devices that have only a very simple user interface, or none at all: vending machines, alarm systems, routers, elevators, automobile engines, industrial utility meters, and others. To address these devices, a separate profile has been developed within the Java Community Process through JSR 195, the Information Module Profile . Read more about IMP here.

Java Card 2.2.2 Specification Available

The latest version of the Java Card Platform Specification is available for download. Version 2.2.2 of the Java Card Specification introduces several optional additions to the Java Card platform. These new features provide specific support for the latest contactless and ID cards. Java Card 2.2.2 also includes enhancements to align with future smart card and USIM card standards. Key benefits of Java Card 2.2.2 include improved interoperability for cards with multiple communication interfaces, richer cryptography and security features, and standardized biometry support. It also provides a series of new APIs for a more memory-efficient application development. Java Card technology v2.2.2 is ready for the next generation of smart card standards, and is fully backward-compatible with previous versions.

Java on Television Set-top boxes

The OpenCable Application Platform (OCAP) is the middleware software specification for digital set top boxes and televisions. All major US cable operators commit to deploy OCAP set-top boxes, based on Java ME technology, in 2006. You can view the OCAP specification here.

For more details on Java and OpenCable, see these Dr.Dobb's articles:

• "Java & the OpenCable Application Platform".

• "The OpenCable Application Platform".

• "The OCAP Digital Video Recorder Specification">.

What are Sun SPOTS?

Project Sun SPOT is an innovative, battery-operated platform, created in Sun labs to enable development of wireless sensor networks, robotics and personal consumer electronics. Powered by a small Java 2 Platform, Micro Edition (Java ME) virtual machine written almost entirely in Java, Project Sun SPOT provides a way to easily, affordably and quickly build Java-based sensor applications that run directly on the central processing unit (CPU) without any underlying operating system.

To see these innovative, and cool, devices in action, check out the site that Sun has created just for Sun SPOTs. For a summary, read this InformationWeek article.

Posted by Eric Bruno at 08:31 AM  Permalink |

Java continues to grow as a platform , not just a language.

The Java platform, made up of the language, its libraries, community, and culture, is being used to change the world of software development and usage. From real-time software development to groundbreaking user applications, such as those from ESPN on the desktop and on your mobile phone, Java is making it happen.

For a quick of review of exactly what Java ME consists of, click here. In a nutshell, it consists of a slimmed down JVM, a configuration (CDC or CLDC), a profile (such as MIDP, Foundation, PBP or PP), and other optional packages (such as JDBC, Realtime, etc). The Java ME APIs and associated JSRs are represented (and linked) nicely in an image on that page.

ESPN recently introduced http://mobile.espn.go.com, which is a service that runs on a cell phone to provide updated news, scores, statistics, standings, rankings, injury reports, the line, and video clips for your favorite sporting events and teams (see article).

Currently, ESPN mobile is offered on Sanyo MVP phones.

The cool part is the software that makes it all possible is built on the Java ME platform. For even more information on Mobile ESPN mobile, and the future of MVNOs, take a look at the articles from MoCoNews and InformationWeek.
For another example of an MVNO, look at Disney's new mobile phone aimed at kids and their parents.

Posted by Eric Bruno at 09:05 AM  Permalink |

Sun Microsystems recently announced that it is distributing and supporting Java DB based on the 100-percent Java technology, open-source Apache Derby database.

Java DB is lightweight at 2MB and embeddable within desktop Java technology applications. Desktop applications can now access powerful database storage with triggers, stored procedures, and support for SQL, Java DataBase Connectivity (JDBC) software, and Java Platform, Enterprise Edition (Java EE, formerly referred to as J2EE), all embedded within the same Java virtual machine (JVM). Read more about it in this article available from Sun's web-site:
Reasonable Server Faces (RSF)

RSF is an open source Java web framework based on Spring, which is analogous to Sun's JavaServer Faces (JSF) framework. RSF was released to be as simple as possible, without presenting an "unexpected learning curve." RSF supports a lot of the same features as JSF, although it claims to be simpler, lighter-weight, and easier to learn. As the documentation says, if you use RSF in the default configuration, you should never see another HttpServletRequest or HTML tag in your code again. What's more, in your business logic, you need never see any dependence on external libraries.

Posted by Eric Bruno at 09:34 AM  Permalink |

Since JavaOne 2006, Sun Microsystems announced that all of its tools--including Sun Java Studio Creator and Sun Java Studio Enterprise software--would be readily available for free, and NetBeans.org released the NetBeans integrated development environment (IDE) 5.0 with many new features. In addition, Eclipse.org announced expanded support for integration, and Oracle's free JDeveloper IDE added new features.

At JavaOne this year, check out the following tools-related technical sessions:

• Creating Professional Swing UIs Using Matisse GUI Builder (TS-4916)
  
• A Script for More-Powerful Java Technology-Based Applications (BOF-2455)
  
• Debugging Across Tiers: Advanced Techniques (TS-1878)
  
• Debugging and Profiling J2EE/Java EE 5 Platform-Based Applications (TS-1549)
  
• JSR-273: Design-Time API for the JavaBeans Specification (BOF-2994)
  
• Twelve Reasons to Use the Sun Java Studio Creator IDE (TS-4386)
  
• Unhappily Ever After: Support, Maintenance, and Troubleshooting of Java Technology-Based
• Applications in Production Environments (TS-1669)
  
• Java ME Authoring for the Real World (BOF-2704)
  
• What's New in JDeveloper (TS-1279)
  
• Integrated Java Technology and C Debugging Using the Eclipse Platform (TS-1011)
  
• Read more at http: http://java.sun.com/developer/technicalArticles/JavaOne2006/tools_top10.html

Standard Java is also available in a reduced-size form, known as Java SE Embedded. There are versions available for PowerPC-based devices, limited memory Linux-x86 devices, and other environments. Using Java SE for Embedded enables you to develop highly functional, reliable, portable and secure applications for today's more powerful embedded systems, featuring the HotSpot JVM that Java developers know well.

Posted by Eric Bruno at 08:02 AM  Permalink |

Five years ago, Sun Microsystems unveiled Project JXTA, a vision that Bill Joy had 25 years earlier.

JXTA is a next-generation network computing project that enables easy access to peers and resources on the web. JXTA technology has moved from being only a prototype to being the industry-leading open-source peer-to-peer (P2P) technology for use in large-scale implementations:

• Boeing's multibillion-dollarFuture Combat Systems (FCS) Project.

• Verizon's Iobi Platform.

• Genius Bytes' JXTA solution for Ricoh copiers, Office P2P.
  
• National Association of Convenience Stores.

Read more in this article Sun recently published, and for more JXTA-related projects.

Posted by Eric Bruno at 08:49 PM  Permalink |