Dustin

Closures Coming to Java 7

dmarx — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:05:00 -0500

The Big Announcement: Closures in JDK 7!

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Groovy Console: Graphical Groovy Shell

dmarx — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 23:15:00 -0500

I wrote about Groovy Shell in my last blog post. As I wrote in that post, Groovy Shell is a highly useful command line based method for experimenting with Groovy code. For those who prefer a graphical interface over the command line interface, Groovy Console provides a nice alternative and that is the subject of this blog post.

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Groovy Shell: A Gentle Introduction to Groovy

dmarx — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 10:44:00 -0500

Groovy Shell brings to Groovy what irb (Interactive Ruby) and jirb (Interactive JRuby) bring to Ruby and

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RMOUG Training Days 2010 Agenda

dmarx — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 01:19:00 -0500

An early version of the agenda for RMOUG Training Days 2010 is now available. The agenda currently shows six University Sessions, ten 90 minute sessions, ten 30 minute sessions, and then many of the typical 60 minute sessions.

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Realizing That I Still Have Much to Learn

dmarx — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 10:26:00 -0500

Several years ago, I was asked to rate myself on my level of expertise with different programming languages and frameworks. Several people were surprised when I did not rank myself at the highest possible level for knowledge of Java, especially when several developers with far less software development in general and far less Java experience in particular rated their own Java skills at the maximum level.

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Internet Archive WayBack Machine: Valuable Technical Reference

dmarx — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 16:41:00 -0400

Have you ever bookmarked a really good technical resource, but were disappointed when you tried to access that page later and it was gone? Have you ever seen what looks like the perfect linked resource in a blog post, article, or book, but then found the referenced URL to not work? In short term cases such as an intermittent server issue or network problem, Google Cache can be an indispensable tool to see a cached version of the page.

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Reocities: GeoCities Rising from the Ashes

dmarx — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 00:06:00 -0400

I previously wrote about the potential loss of historical technical details as a result of the demise of Yahoo! GeoCities. I listed several useful technical pages hosted on GeoCities that might be lost. Others have also pointed out that GeoCities provided a perspective of the early days of personal web pages with profound value for those interested in studying the history of the web.

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Maintaining a Software Development Library (Books)

dmarx — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 01:28:00 -0400

For as long as I can remember, I have always loved books. When I was growing up and my parents would offer to buy my brothers and me something at the store, I'd almost always select some fictional book while my brothers would select toys. As an adult, I don't read as much fiction as I'd like, but I do buy and read (at least portions) of a lot of technical books. I've got technical books strewn around the house in several different book cases in several different rooms. My wife asks me to take more of them to work, but I have my two long book shelves at work filled as well.

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Firefox 3.6 Requires Java SE 6 Update 10

dmarx — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 22:56:00 -0400

Java SE 6 Update 10 was a significant release despite its version numbering indicating a minor release. Among other advancements, Java SE 6 Update 10 introduced the Next-Generation Java Plug-in for a better Java applet experience.

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RMOUG Training Days 2010 Abstracts: Groovy, REST, and Better UIs

dmarx — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 23:31:00 -0400

As I noted in my previous post, my two abstracts have been accepted by the Rocky Mountain Oracle Users Group (RMOUG) for presentation at Training Days 2010. I have also learned that Bill Jackson's abstract for "Ten Easy Ways To Build a Better GUI" has been accepted as well.

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Java SourceVersion and Character

dmarx — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 01:24:00 -0400

The SourceVersion class provides information on Java source versions and can provide some interesting details, including demonstration of terminology covered in the Java Language Specification.

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Who Should Oracle Sell MySQL To?

dmarx — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 18:25:00 -0400

There is no shortage of people calling for Oracle to sell MySQL. I keep reading that Oracle should sell MySQL to "a suitable third-party" or to a "neutral third party." I understand why these people feel passionate about this, but "loose" terminology like this is always dangerous. It implies that this is an easy thing to do and that there is a line of suitors out there waiting to snap up MySQL for a fair market price.

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RMOUG Training Days 2010 Presentations

dmarx — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 22:27:00 -0400

I received word today that my two abstracts were accepted for Rocky Mountain Oracle Users Group (RMOUG) Training Days 2010, which will be held February 16-18, 2010, at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver, Colorado.

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Being Critical is Easier Than Being Creative

dmarx — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:54:00 -0400

I have learned in life in general and in software development in particular that it is far easier to be critical of a proposed idea than it is to be creative in coming up with a new or different idea. We see this in politics all the time when one ideological side seems to be better at attacking the other side than at coming up with real and creative solutions of their own.

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Comments on the Future of IntelliJ IDEA

dmarx — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 19:14:00 -0400

In the blog post Why I Think IDEA Going Open Source is Not a Good Sign, Cedric Otaku articulates why he believes that the open sourcing of IntelliJ IDEA Community Edition is not a good sign for that IDE's future.

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A Big Week for the Java Development Community

dmarx — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 19:49:00 -0400

This past week featured some significant news for the general Java development community. Many of us looked to this week's OpenWorld 2009 as an opportunity to learn more about the potential future of Java and the Java "ecosystem" under Oracle's stewardship.

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Java in First Days of Oracle OpenWorld 2009

dmarx — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 23:30:00 -0400

In Oracle OpenWorld for the Java Developer, I looked at the relationship between Sun and Oracle and considered how Java might be covered at Oracle OpenWorld. In this blog post, I point to and summarize some of the blog posts starting to come out along these same themes based in Sunday and Monday at OpenWorld.

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Impact of Demise of GeoCities on Online Software Development References

dmarx — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 10:05:00 -0400

On 9 July 2009, I received an e-mail message from Yahoo! GeoCities stating, "GeoCities is closing." I received these because I have had, for many years, a simple static homepage on Geocities (http://geocities.com/Colosseum/Field/7217/SW/index.html or http://geocities.com/dustinmarx/). I did not provide a link to it because, two weeks from today on 26 October 2009, that page will no longer be accessible.

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Oracle OpenWorld for the Java Developer

dmarx — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 18:38:00 -0400

Many in the Java development community are hoping to glean clues about Oracle's vision of the future of Java (assuming successful acquisition of Sun by Oracle) at next week's Oracle OpenWorld (11-15 October 2009 at

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Lists of Popular Software Development Blogs

dmarx — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 13:57:00 -0400

There seem to be all kinds of lists of top software development and technical blogs. On the one hand, this does not matter that much to me because of the existence of powerful search engines such as Google and powerful development-specific aggregation sites such DZone. Search engines allow me to find an answer to a particular problem I am facing and don't limit me to blogs.

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Firsthand Frustration with Interface Inaccessiblity

dmarx — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 13:00:00 -0400

Most of us in the software development business are probably at least aware of accessibility issues associated with software development (particularly user interface development). However, I find that I usually understand the need for something better when I experience the need myself.

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More on the Future of JavaOne

dmarx — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 01:24:00 -0400

Twice previously (April 2009 and June 2009), I publicly pondered the future of JavaOne given Oracle's announced acquiring of Sun Microsystems.

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RMOUG: Beware Triggers and DBA Code of Ethics

dmarx — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 13:20:00 -0400

The Rocky Mountain Oracle Users Group (RMOUG) is well-known in the Oracle database administrator community.

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Groovy JDK (GDK): Object[] and T[]

dmarx — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 10:58:00 -0400

The Groovy JDK (GDK) provides many convenience methods that can be invoked on arrays.

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Groovy JDK (GDK): List Enhancements

dmarx — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 20:53:00 -0400

In prior blog posts, I have discussed several highly useful classes and methods provided as part of the Groovy JDK (GDK). These posts have covered GDK-extended classes such as File, String, and Number.

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