JW blogs

Java Developers' Thoughts on 2009 JavaOne and the Future of JavaOne

dmarx — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 22:31:00 -0400

I have found the results of the current and previous survey on Java.net to be interesting. These two surveys and indeed the three of the last four Java.net surveys have been related to JavaOne.

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Learning Java via Simple Tests

dmarx — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 09:59:00 -0400

On forums dedicated to answering questions for people who are new to Java programming (such as the Sun forum called New to Java), a common frustration vented by many of the "regulars" is when people posting questions have not even bothered to search for something that has already been frequently answered or is easily answered with Google, Bing, or other se

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Questions Answered: First Day of 2009 JavaOne

dmarx — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 00:35:00 -0400

I have previously blogged on questions about the effect of Oracle's acquisition of Sun on JavaOne. In that same blog posting, I also postulated that JavaOne might answer some of the questions and publicly wondered if this would be the last JavaOne.

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Groovy in Java with JSR 223

dmarx — Thu, 21 May 2009 23:50:00 -0400

I previously blogged on using JavaScript in Java. The same Java Specification Request that allows for JavaScript in Java, JSR 223 ("Scripting for the Java Platform"), allows for including other scripting languages in Java.

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JRuby's Ruby-Style Exception Handling

dmarx — Wed, 20 May 2009 22:58:00 -0400

Both Java and Ruby have relatively sophisticated exception handling built-in to the respective languages.

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JRuby Supports Java and Ruby Method Names Conventions

dmarx — Sun, 10 May 2009 00:43:00 -0400

Jeff Cohen's blog post Ruby 101: Naming Conventions does a nice job of covering conventions associated with the Ruby programming language.

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Common Java Cookbook

dmarx — Sat, 09 May 2009 22:49:00 -0400

Like many others in our (software development) profession, I take at least a few minutes out of my day each day to quickly browse DZone topics. Even just reading the topic titles can help me learn new terms and become familiar at the highest-level with new languages, frameworks, and so forth.

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Code Cannot Be Simpler than the Problem Domain

dmarx — Wed, 06 May 2009 18:46:00 -0400

Most of us have decided that code simplicity is a desirable quality. However, we have also observed that several things limit the simplicity of our code and even exaggerate our code's complexity.

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JRuby, jmx4r, GlassFish, and Viewing Logging Levels

dmarx — Mon, 04 May 2009 10:50:00 -0400

I have blogged previously on using simple remote access of GlassFish via JMX. In this blog posting, I will look briefly at how jmx4r makes this very easy to do from JRuby.

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GroovySql: Groovy JDBC

dmarx — Sat, 02 May 2009 23:13:00 -0400

I have long felt that JDBC is one of the most underrated reliable work horses of the Java world.

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VisualVM: JRuby and the Ruby to JVM Spectrum

dmarx — Fri, 01 May 2009 01:30:00 -0400

As I have worked with JRuby, it has been interesting to observe the intersection of the Java and Ruby communities. Because JRuby potentially combines with best of the JVM with the best of Ruby, it is perhaps not surprising that JRuby leads to a greater intersection of the Java community and the Ruby community.

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jirb: Gentle Introduction to JRuby

dmarx — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 00:27:00 -0400

If you haven't had the opportunity to work with Ruby or JRuby, the jirb tool provides an easy approach to playing with JRuby basic syntax and features.

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The Software Development Do-Gooder

dmarx — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 23:27:00 -0400

Throughout my career, I have either caused unnecessary problems by being a software development do-gooder or have suffered delays ranging from minor to significant because of other software development do-gooders.

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Groovy: JVM-based Scripting with Less Ceremony

dmarx — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 10:41:00 -0400

My favorite use of Groovy is to write simple scripts that rely on Java classes or other features of the Java Virtual Machine (JVM) on which Groovy is running. The reduced ceremony approach of Groovy is particularly attractive in such situations.

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Effective Java NullPointerException Handling

dmarx — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 16:53:00 -0400

It doesn't take much Java development experience to learn firsthand what the NullPointerException is about. In fact, one person has highlighted dealing with this as the number one mistake Java developers make.

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Oracle Buying Sun: Not That Big of a Surprise

dmarx — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 10:30:00 -0400

Today's announcement regarding Oracle buying Sun is not that big of a surprise given the recent failed deal between IBM and Sun and the precarious position it left Sun in.

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JavaScript in Java

dmarx — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 10:08:00 -0400

The recent JavaLobby post The Top 10 Unused Features in Java has been extremely popular. At the time of this writing, it is the top ranked post in the DZone Top Links category. In addition a reply to it has been posted as well.

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Exporting POJO via JMX and Groovy

dmarx — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 01:18:00 -0400

In several previous blog postings, I have described how to expose Java classes via Java Management Extensions (JMX).

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Benefits of Using Open Source: Potential Versus Realizable

dmarx — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 20:25:00 -0400

There are many advertised benefits of using open source.

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More Movies Quotes Applied to Software Development

dmarx — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 10:16:00 -0400

I previously blogged on Classic Movies Quotes Applied to Software Development. That may have been my favorite blog post to write because it combined two things I really enjoy in combining software development and movies. That blog post was also unique in that it is the only one I am aware of to be referenced in the online CNN Entertainment section.

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IBM Not Buying Sun (for Now)

dmarx — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 23:30:00 -0400

There are reports that the talks related to IBM purchasing Sun have fallen apart.

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Java: Overloading Versus Overriding

dmarx — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 22:20:00 -0400

I have occasionally heard the terms method overloading and method overriding used interchangeably. While the difference between these two concepts can be relatively easily explained, the difference in the runtime resolution of these is more tricky for those new to Java.

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Are You The Best Developer You Know?

dmarx — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 21:47:00 -0400

Are you the best software developer you know? If you are, you might want to consider changing the situation.

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IBM and Sun: Future of GlassFish, NetBeans, and JavaFX

dmarx — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 00:57:00 -0400

The Wall Street Journal story today about IBM possibly acquiring Sun Microsystems ("IBM in Talks to Buy Sun in Bid to Add to Web Heft") is, at the highest level, nothing too new.

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The Java Collections Class

dmarx — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 00:35:00 -0400

One of my favorite standard Java classes is the Collections class. This is not surprising considering how often I find myself using the Java Collections Framework.

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