Java 7 Platform: What’s In, What’s Out!
Posted on August 8, 2008
Filed Under news | 7 Comments
Alex Miller maintains an unofficial Java 7 home page and recently updated his predictions about what will make it into Java 7. boy, did this spark off a discussion in the forums. So what’s the big deal?. Well, the only thing that appears clear in all of this is uncertainty. Stepping over to the official Java 7 home page is like walking through treacle. Access to information is slow, slow, slow!
Anyway, back to Alex’s post. A few things sprang out at me. First was that Closures are unlikely to make it into Java 7. Personally, I think this is a good thing. Let’s learn from the generic rollout and get it right. But Neal Gafter is chipping away at Closures. We’ll just have to wait and see.
The native language support for XML for me is just plain wrong. We need to be reducing the amount of XML we consume instead of making it easy for people to use more of it. Remember, the SAAJ Java SOAP API that made you write really verbose code. Well, with XML support you can do just as badly more easily. Why do we want to go there?
JSR-277 - Java Modules - ain’t this just the Java 7 love child. Let’s back up a bit here first. In the late nineties, after object-oriented design was well-established and component-based architectures started emerge, it was clear that modularity in Java was just not there yet. The whole class-path/class-loading was the oft-cited nightmare for component developers in the Java world, whilst the Windows guys wallowed in DLL-hell. OSGi took the bull by the horns and brushed aside a lot of these obstacles and is a core within Eclipse - invariably one of the most used and well-respected component-based, plugin-driven architectures within the Java community.
Then came JSR-277 that is a competitor (or alternative?) to OSGi. Trouble? Well, there is nothing wrong with taking a good idea and implementing it afresh, taking on board current industry thinking, tools and techniques to hand. Moreover, the folks over at OSGi are not, IMO, against JSR-277 as an alternative. In fact, it could be great for OSGi. However, given that JSR-277 will be packaged and delivered as part of the JRE, but does not interoperate with OSGi, some feel that this is no way to run a JSR, and is sad state of affairs when technology platforms submerge into the murky world of politics. However, with more examples and discussions around the new Java Module System, I think the fun and games are set to continue…
Moving on, the rather filthy date and time (JSR 310) api get a spring clean and a couple of concurrency (JSR 166) tweaks are knocking on the Java 7 door - multicore is every darling! And finally NIO 2 (JSR 203). Hands up if you have used NIO? Let me see, that’s 10% of the room. It’s just one of parts of the platform that the average Java developer either has zero knowledge and/or interest in. Why? I think this api is really for framework writers and/or vendor tool folks, that have above-average problems, not for the everyday Java developer. That said, you should really take a look at what nio is and what are its advantages and if you’ve got a spare hour (lucky you), check of the following NIO 2 presentation.
There’s plenty more meat on the Java 7 bone but I’m out of time. I’ll bury it for now and dig up for seconds sometime soon…
What is an Rich Internet Application (RIA)?
Posted on July 29, 2008
Filed Under webapps | 3 Comments
I’ve started listening more and more to the podcasts from the JavaPosse recently. At first, I found the format a bit dry but these guys do grow on you. I’m now past the getting to know them period. Anyway there was an interesting discussion on what is an RIA that overflowed into another podcast given the amount of listener feedback they received.
Now I hadn’t given this much thought but what do you think an RIA is? Which of the following are RIAs:
Take a couple of seconds to think about that and then read David Herron’s Thoughts on Rich Internet Applications. Now go back and classify the above applications.
Now think about these new types of web application that can you tear off from the web browser and place on your desktop and for them to continue working. At that point I realised that RIA is too broad term and trying to stuff all this types of application into that bucket is only fuelling the confusion. But do we need another term? I think discussing the terms will deliver much more value.
So who’s gonna kick things off…
Grails in Action: Call to Action!
Posted on July 28, 2008
Filed Under webapps | Leave a Comment
I’m currently helping out with the review process for the new Grails in Action book. If you’re into Grails, why not help out as well.
Grails in the Cloud
Posted on July 28, 2008
Filed Under webapps | 2 Comments
I was a little bit impressed with the ease with which you can deploy a Grails web application into the cloud using Morph AppSpace. So much so, I wrote it up as a page and will maintain it going forwards. I think it will get better, so I’ll be keeping an eye on it. Here is my simple Grails app http://javasoup.morphexchange.com.
Grails : Easy does it
Posted on July 8, 2008
Filed Under All | Leave a Comment
I have never developed a web application using Grails. I played with it a long time going when Graeme Rocher, the project lead on Grails came to our offices in Poland to talk about TDD. At that time, he was CTO of SkillsMatter, the open source technology training company. At the time, I didn’t get Grails and personally I felt that it was clumsy and just another web framework.
Today, I decided to give it another go. So, here’s what I did:
1. Started my stopwatch.
2. Googled “grails web framework.”
3. Clicked on the second link http://grails.org
4. After downloading grails I followed the installation instructions.
5. Then after reading the quick start details executed three commands
6. grails create-app (I named it javasoup)
7. cd javasoup
8. grails run-app
9. Opened up Firefox
10. Traversed to http://localhost:8080/javasoup
Stop the clock! Okay, 4 minutes 41 seconds is not bad at all for an old guy. From zero to a running web application, which includes reading all that installation stuff and download the zip file. Now, I have to say, that was really an eye opening for me. No problems. No major accidents. I’m still alive.
Then after adding the Groovy and Grails bundles for TextMate, I was done. Well, so I thought until I took one look at the Grails plugin area. Frac! Some people have got too much spare time…
Welcome to Java Soup!
Posted on July 3, 2008
Filed Under news | Leave a Comment
Why another blog? A couple reasons really.
Firstly, I think that a blog should target a specific audience and should not be diluted with stuff that does appeal to them. It just makes people think twice about reading your stuff the next time and wants that. We all know that time is already in very short supply so I’ve made it real simple with this blog. If you’re not interested in Java, then its time to move along, nothing to see here…
Secondly, I’d say that about 60% of my total code production has been on the Java Platform. Followed by 30% in C++ and the remaning 10% with other stuff. Although I am no longer part of the implementation team the cranks out production Java code, I’m very much involved in software creation and a large part of that is on the Java Platform.
Lastly, I’ve noticed this really telling trend amongst mature Java developers that are neither part of vendor company selling Java solutions nor contributing to an open source project. On the whole, there are exceptions of course, they don’t stay current. Can you, as a Java developer tell me what’s earmarked for Java 7? What is Hudson? Who is Guillaume Laforge? Who bought Cameron Purdy’s company? What are the new features in Clover2? Is 64bit Java stable on the Linux Platform? Do you know the answers to these questions? Do you care?
Well, as someone that was in the know but is now trying to get back in touch, hopefully this blog will pull a few other strays back into what is surely still a thriving Java Community. Subscribing to TheServerSide RSS feed is simply not enough people and hasn’t been for some time. So in the words of Tom Cruise’s Jerry Maguire:
“Help Me, Help You…”
to “…Show me the money!”
