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Yeah: What is a web application (or "webapp")? (Created Aug 17, 2000)

http://www.jguru.com/faq/view.jsp?EID=448031

iksrazal

Interestingly MCCI has suffered mistaken identity previously

Java has the "Reflection API", which can be used to access private members which you normally aren't allowed to access, so no, the verification is not in the bytecode interpreter (in the precise sense). The SecurityManager (of the runtime environment) decides whether this access is allowed or not. See here for an example and further explanations.

The fact that this feature is controlled by the SecurityManager in Java hints at possible security implications, if this kind of access isn't restricted. The private declaration is mostly a tool for the programmer which prevents him from using unspecified API elements. In a normal program, there is no security reason why he shouldn't access every bit of every class of his program. It is merely a coding discipline measure. But what happens when the program is handed a linked list by the runtime environment? With access to private members the program can unlink some elements, even if that possibility is not exposed in the API and therefore not expected by the programmer of the "other program". When different programs interact by passing objects, protection of private members from access by other objects is a security feature.

I like your solution, but I think it would be more effective if you took a little bigger approach. Instead of using Verisign or Paypal for the actual transactions, do it yourself. This is of course impractical for small discrete payments, but if you implemented it as a certain number of page views for $10 (like Slashdot did) it might be feasible.

What I meant by thinking bigger is to record page views across several sites web users visit. That way I can pay $10 and get 1000 page views at DevZone, WDVL, 4GuysFromRolla, jguru, and other sites who chose to participate.

Good technical manuals: WebLogic is expensive, and I wouldn't use it for personal use, but they have great respect IMO for the developer. Their APIs are fully documented in clear, technical language, they have samples for everything useful, and many many FAQs. Their docs are also updated for new releases. I think good docs will make or break a product, unless it's so easy to use that command-line help is enough or it's "intuitive" (like WinZip on Windows)

Straightforward user interface:Even if you have the docs, the truth is I won't read them till I need them. I tend to install the thing and then browse around to see what I can do. If it's an editor, I start typing. If it's a drag and drop GUI builder, I start building. While there's something great about developing your own unique interface and way of looking at the world, at least allow for an "idiot's option" that gets me feeling productive; or, that the tool hasn't gotten in the way of what I'm doing. Kudos to tools like JEdit, for example, which I had up and running and compiling with in maybe an hour. Blahs to APIs like Xerces, which I can use, but which have an absolutely confusing API in some cases (how do you move an Element from one Document to another? where's the changeParent() call?)

Let the FAQs lead the way:A number of others posted that your should publish your knowledge base, but I'd also add that a good FAQ system is a good lead-in for developer interest in your newsgroups. Basically, it will draw people there even if the newsgroups are new. I suspect you'll also spend the early rollout manning the newsgroups yourself. Roll your answers into the FAQs; searching newsgroups is tedious work. The worst thing to find are newsgroups with many, many unanswered threads (like Sun's Java site) and scanty FAQs. JGuru has a very good set of FAQs.

Good luck! Let us all know when it's released.

p!yaya

From my viewpoint, these links have served me well for both C++ and Java.
Java's Home
SourceForge - cannot live without
Apache - there is no other
JGuru
IBM DeveloperWorks
Eclipse OR NetBeans
Google is the main site I use
Cetus Links

The reference for server side java is The Server Side.com
Also, JGuru has quite a lot of stuff about general java
And of course, the Sun Java site is an excellent reference to, and they recently redesigned the web site which is now much more intuitive IMHO...

Also, get a copy of Thinking in Java by Bruce Eckel (Free PDF version on the web), this is the best book on java ever written!

The best resource from java, besides the sun's various documentations is http://www.jguru.com, not only do they provide tutorials for basic things like Java Exceptions, but also allow you to post questions regarding different issues like various configurations of servers like Apache tomcat, Weblogic, etc. Jguru is an excellent way to see what the real life problems are, and what solutions are there.

Oh, sure. That's it. Just copy everything you'll ever need to a local mirror. Including up-to-date bug lists, development-related discussion boards, and tip sites like jguru.com. Kind of defeats the purpose of the internet as a research and investigative tool, doesn't it? Especially the part where collaboration and discussion with others outside the company comes into play.

Don't get me wrong: I have no qualms with keeping employees from doing personal business at work, but this is not a good way to go about doing it for many professions. If you want to prevent security problems, don't buy exploit-laden software. Patch the software you do have. IT may not like having to deal with these things, but that's their job. If you don't like it, find another line of work. As for management, they should know better than to adopt this line of thinking. No, personal internet usage at work isn't a right, but adopting a policy like this will certainly make employees distrustful and angry. That's what I call being managed into the ground.

(a) The mailing list tomcat-user-help@jakarta.apache.org, to which you can subscribe through the Jakarta site. The archives for this mailing list are helpful, too, and can be searched. In both the current mailing list and the archives, the most productive use of your time would be to read everything posted by Craig McClanahan and Pier Fumagalli, who are the primary developers (of Tomcat) and writers of most of the documentation. They seem to know more about Tomcat than anyone else (at least Tomcat 4.0), and they often post material to the mailing list that is not found anywhere in the official documentation.

(b) The Tomcat FAQ forum and Tomcat FAQ at jGuru.com.

In this vein, see an introductory article ("Server-side Java with Jakarta Tomcat") in Linux Journal (April, 2001) in the regular column, At the Forge.

(a) The mailing list tomcat-user-help@jakarta.apache.org, to which you can subscribe through the Jakarta site. The archives for this mailing list are helpful, too, and can be searched. In both the current mailing list and the archives, the most productive use of your time would be to read everything posted by Craig McClanahan and Pier Fumagalli, who are the primary developers (of Tomcat) and writers of most of the documentation. They seem to know more about Tomcat than anyone else (at least Tomcat 4.0), and they often post material to the mailing list that is not found anywhere in the official documentation.

(b) The Tomcat FAQ forum and Tomcat FAQ at jGuru.com.

In this vein, see an introductory article ("Server-side Java with Jakarta Tomcat") in Linux Journal (April, 2001) in the regular column, At the Forge.

You can find some suggestiions for your problems at these two sites: jGuru Linux FAQ Java on Linux by Nathan Meyers

I thought the events that preceeded the release were quite interesting. About a year ago one VAJ user set up web page containing a petition to get IBM to create a Linux version of VAJ. About a thousand people signed it, then he sent it to IBM. The amazing thing is that IBM then did something about it! I'm impressed that so many people signed the petition, and that IBM responded.