I like the new language features a lot. Let me preface this with, I am a big Python fan, and Jython has most if not all of these features already (I am the author of a Jython book by Addison Wesley).
Generics make sense, and they look a lot easier than C++ templates.
The new for construct, also make a lot sense (very python like).
As well as the new auto boxing feature. (Why should I have to worry about this..... let the compiler do the work for me!)
My opinion is that if the compiler can figure it out, then why bother me with it.
Make the compiler smarter so I have to type less.
Less code that I write means less code I have to maintain!
Back before Java became popular, I was a C++ bigot. I programmed in nothing but C++. I lived, ate and breathed C++. If it wasn't C++, it was rubbish. I thought C++ was the alpha and omega of object-oriented programming. I had "operator overloading" for breakfast, "templates" for lunch and "multiple inheritance" for dinner, and I always went back for seconds.
Then a funny thing happened. I got a new job at another company as a C++ programmer. But they pulled the old bait and switch. Once I started working, someone suggested writing a good portion of a large project in a scripting language. I protested - I would not condescend to program in any other language but C++.
Shortly after I started at this new company the following edict was put forth: "Thou shall use a scripting language." Thus I was forced by management to write a good portion of the project in a high-level scripting language. They told us to glue components written in C++ together with this scripting language (in addition to writing components in C++). At first I hated it, as any self-respecting C++ bigot would. Then, gradually, the productivity of my team - and me - skyrocketed!
The higher level you can make Java, the more productive it will be. These features they are adding make so much sense to me.
I hate purity for the sake of purity. I dogmatically dislike development dogma. Life is full of compromises. There is no pure Java langauge... Let Java grow! Let it become higher level. Heck, there are a few features from Ruby that I'd like to see Java adopt.
I am not saying that Java should one day be like Perl. I think things have to be added judiciously, but let the language evolve!
Nope... that is not it.... I am saying use WebLogic specific features when it makes sense, i.e., it provides value above and beyond J2EE. Otherwise show the more portable way of doing things, e.g., don't hardcode JNDI props in the client. Use the proper JNDI names and client ENC. Some people who read this book won't be J2EE experts, they may be J2EE functional but not experts. Show them the right way. They may have to port their component to another platform or may need their components to run on two platforms.
I consider this a nit and not a major flaw. Since they are mostly compliant with all of their examples.
If you have been using WebLogic off and on since before EJB (Enterprise JavaBeans) existed, you will still learn a bunch of new tricks.
I forgive your mockery.
But you misunderstand. Application servers existed before EJB. WebLogic server existed before EJB.
The original before I edited to make it suitable for SlashDot (which can still be found on Amazon) reads:
If you are new to WebLogic, I suggest that you get this book. If you have been working with WebLogic since before the EJB.8 spec., I suggest that you get this book.
Weblogic and other application servers predate EJB. Back when EJB came out, NetDynamnics was THE Application server before it got bought by Sun and merged with Netscape then became IPlanet and then Sun ONE.
Therefore, as loopy as it is, I stand by the technical merit of my first statement.
Even today WebLogic is much more than just an EJB server, and the book covers much more than EJB.
No Margin.... No Mission
(Wait 2 minutes)
Money runs the world
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF -8&q=%22no+margin%22++%22no+mission%22
The point is that code examples should employ best practices so that people who are learning new technolgies learn to use the correctly from the outset.
BINGO.... wait 20 seconds before post...
Hmmmmmmmmmmmm.... that is exactly what I meant.
I guess this is indicative of my English skill being bad. You are making fun of something I said, and I still think it looks right.
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.....
If you have been using WebLogic off and on since before EJB (Enterprise JavaBeans) existed.
Hmmmm..... Is it because I have both since and before?..... I think it is....
Write it the correct way and let me see...
I believe the original read like this....
If you are new to WebLogic, I suggest that you get this book. If you have been working with WebLogic since before the EJB.8 spec., I suggest that you get this book.
I aint no English major that is for sure.... but it not be stopping me none from exspressing my opinions none. Ha Ha....
An editor once asked me if English was my first language. When I am in a hurry, my writing skills get worse.
I figured this was a pretty informal setting.
There are books that do exactly what you are saying.
Java Tools for Extreme Programming (Covers Ant, JUnit, J2EE development issues AND was number one under Software Development on Amazon for three months this year).
and
Java Development with Ant (Cover XDoclet)
come to mind....
If your interested in XDoclet (as you stated) check out this FREE multipart tutorial series that covers XDoclet, Ant doing EJB Development.
EJB with XDoclet Step by Step based on earlier tutorial that has WebLogic and JBoss examples with XDoclet http://www.rickhightower.com/ejbcmpcmrtut.html.
Also, I wrote two chapters in the upcoming book that covers Struts, XDoclet and Ant on Tomcat
Mastering Tomcat Development from Wiley . I wrote the chapter on Struts and the chapter on Ant/XDoclet for the Tomcat book. The Struts chapter rewrites a model 1 JSP based application to be a model 2 based Struts application (it uses XDoclet). The Ant/XDoclet Chapter has examples of using XDoclet for Custom Tags, Struts, Servlets, EJBs and more.
The books you are asking for already exist.... These are but a few examples. I don't think having books on these topics excludes having a book on weblogic. The world is big enough for both.
Dont' forget Resin EE....
Check out article on Resin: The Instant Application Server
by Daniel Solin
09/18/2002
"Imagine a Java Web application server that runs on Unix, delivers incredible performance, is really easy to set up, and inexpensive to boot. Even crazier, imagine that this little app server offers all of the features you expect from a modern Java server, including JSP/servlets, XML/XSL, and EJB/CMP. "
What I meant (and I think you can glean this from the review) is that at times the examples used a weblogic centric approach when I know a more J2EE generic approach existed and would work just as well.
I did not mean that the book should not cover weblogic centric features. In fact, I went on for a while about how I liked the weblogic centric features that it did cover.
Clear????
If not email me, and I will clarify it further.
It is a good book and if you are doing weblogic, I suggest that you get it.
Huh???? I was not complaining. I gave this book a 5 star rating, and said if you are doing weblogic get this book..... I was stating a fact. I can disagree with an approach and still like a book.
The book has been reviewed before.
Check out the earlier review at/., the Dr. Dobb's Journal review, the Java Ranch Review, the JavaPro review, and more at book reviews .
Here are two examples:
"It is... a pleasure to review... books that are both original and useful. The first is Richard Hightower and Nicholas Lesiecki's Java Tools for Extreme Programming, which describes five new Open-Source Java programming tools... Java Tools is readable and well organized... As a bonus, the authors show how to use these tools together; for example, how to automate reexecution of JUnit tests using Ant."
--Gregory V. Wilson (Dr Dobb's)
"This book is the first of its kind, covering topics that haven't been explored this directly anywhere. It does a remarkable job, covering not just the tools but the philosophy behind good unit tests and frequent, automated builds...."...... "The philosophy behind this material is modern and forward thinking.... (The book has the ) potential to make you a better programmer and better able to deliver higher-quality code on a shorter timeline. "
--Claude Duguay (JavaPro)
Check out the book web site for more details about the book.
Java Tools for eXtreme Programming describes techniques for implementing the Extreme Programming practices of Automated Testing and Continuous Integration using Open Source tools, e.g., Ant, JUnit, HttpUnit, JMeter, and much more. This page contains review excerpts, links to the code, and a book description.
You could post the problems you are having here in this forum. Then we can judge if its the book's examples or your skillset with Java and J2EE that is the problem. Some of the examples require J2EE experience.
BTW Try using Resin. We used the Resin application server for the examples.
If you like, you can email me privately and I can try to help. rick@rickhigtower.com
Java Tools for eXtreme Programming describes techniques for implementing the Extreme Programming practices of Automated Testing and Continuous Integration using Open Source tools, e.g., Ant, JUnit, HttpUnit, JMeter, and much more.
There are other great books that cover other aspects of Extreme Programming. This book focuses on Automated Testing and Continuous Integration.
The book does mention XP throughout, but does not cover all other practices of XP in detail. This book focuses on the mechanics of XP. Other books cover the philosophy of XP quite nicely and there was no need to repeat it in this book. There is an introduction to all aspects of XP, however, the focus is on Automated Testing and Continuous Integration.
The book contains small examples and tutorials on each tool. The examples cover building, deploying, and testing Java and J2EE applications.
In addition to small examples, there are larger case studies. The case studies are larger more realistic examples. We have case studies involving XSLT, EJB, Struts, JDBC, etc.
Each case study is complete with an ant build script and several tests, written with JUnit, HttpUnit, Cactus, JUnitPerf and/or JMeter. The case studies focus on building, deploying and testing J2EE applications with Ant and JUnit.
There is also a reference section for APIs. Instead of rehashing the API documentation, the reference section has example usage, i.e., code examples for the important classes and methods.
Although this book speaks from an XP perspective, you need not practice XP to benefit from it. For example, you do not have to adopt the entire XP methodology to get value out of this book. Automated testing, for example, can help you refactor code regardless of whether you are doing pair programming or not. Continuous integration can help you detect and fix problems early in the lifecycle of the system regardless of whether your customer is on site or not.
There are some really great books on XP. Three of my favorites are as follows:
Extreme Programming Explained: Embrace Change
by Kent Beck
Planning Extreme Programming
by Kent Beck, Martin Fowler (favorite)
Agile Modeling: Effective Practices for Extreme Programming and the Unified Process
by Scott W. Ambler
You will enjoy this book as it covers topics not covered in other books, i.e., essential topics that are critical to J2EE and Java development.
This book is highly rated and is doing very well. If you are thinking about buying a copy check out these reviews reviews
The reviews for the book and comments on Amazon, TheServerSide.com, JavaRanch are very encouraging. Thank you all. And, thanks to SlashDot for reviewing the book on this forum...
I'd like to thank some other folks.
This book would not be possible without the great set of tools written for building and testing J2EE. I'd like to publicly thank James Duncan Davidson et al, Mike Clark, Vincent Massol et al, Kent Beck and Erich Gamma.
James Duncan Davidson et al created Ant. The de facto build tool for Java. This is the glue for building applications and making continuos integration doable with Java.
JUnit is the regression-testing framework written by Erich Gamma and Kent Beck. After looking at this code base you can see this framework screams with design patterns and solid OOP, and is central to Extreme Programming development with Java. It is as if these guys wrote *the definitive books* on Design Patterns and Extreme Programming--oh yeah they did!
Russell Gold wrote HttpUnit, which makes functional web applications easy and fun. (It can also be combined with Cactus.)
Mike Clark extended JUnit to provide JUnitPerf, which does load testing and performance testing. This code is an excellent example of how to extend JUnit. Mike Clark is also a really nice guy.
Vincent Massol et al for creating the Cactus (was J2EEUnit). I use this tool every day at work to unit test JSP Tags and EJBs. This is a truly novel tool. (BTW Nicholas Lesiecki, the co-author of the book, is an active committer on this project.)
Vincent Massol of Cactus contributed to the creation of the book. He reviewed the chapter on Cactus. His acknowledgement was accidentally omitted from the book during publication.
I am not implying that anyone mentioned above endorses the book or name dropping. I just wanted to thank them for contributing their time and effort to create these tools and then just give them away! Without them this book would not exist.
The book has been a bestseller under software development on Amazon most of this year. Thank you. We are blown away with the success of the book.
Check out these threads about the book if you get a chance....
Slashdot Mirror
I like the new language features a lot. Let me preface this with, I am a big Python fan, and Jython has most if not all of these features already (I am the author of a Jython book by Addison Wesley).
Generics make sense, and they look a lot easier than C++ templates.
The new for construct, also make a lot sense (very python like).
As well as the new auto boxing feature. (Why should I have to worry about this..... let the compiler do the work for me!)
My opinion is that if the compiler can figure it out, then why bother me with it.
Make the compiler smarter so I have to type less.
Less code that I write means less code I have to maintain!
Back before Java became popular, I was a C++ bigot. I programmed in nothing but C++. I lived, ate and breathed C++. If it wasn't C++, it was rubbish. I thought C++ was the alpha and omega of object-oriented programming. I had "operator overloading" for breakfast, "templates" for lunch and "multiple inheritance" for dinner, and I always went back for seconds.
Then a funny thing happened. I got a new job at another company as a C++ programmer. But they pulled the old bait and switch. Once I started working, someone suggested writing a good portion of a large project in a scripting language. I protested - I would not condescend to program in any other language but C++.
Shortly after I started at this new company the following edict was put forth: "Thou shall use a scripting language." Thus I was forced by management to write a good portion of the project in a high-level scripting language. They told us to glue components written in C++ together with this scripting language (in addition to writing components in C++). At first I hated it, as any self-respecting C++ bigot would. Then, gradually, the productivity of my team - and me - skyrocketed!
The higher level you can make Java, the more productive it will be. These features they are adding make so much sense to me.
I hate purity for the sake of purity. I dogmatically dislike development dogma. Life is full of compromises. There is no pure Java langauge... Let Java grow! Let it become higher level. Heck, there are a few features from Ruby that I'd like to see Java adopt.
I am not saying that Java should one day be like Perl. I think things have to be added judiciously, but let the language evolve!
"It is, without qualification, the best book I've ever written on this subject :-)."
I admire your shameless plug... LOL
Nope... that is not it.... I am saying use WebLogic specific features when it makes sense, i.e., it provides value above and beyond J2EE. Otherwise show the more portable way of doing things, e.g., don't hardcode JNDI props in the client. Use the proper JNDI names and client ENC. Some people who read this book won't be J2EE experts, they may be J2EE functional but not experts. Show them the right way. They may have to port their component to another platform or may need their components to run on two platforms.
I consider this a nit and not a major flaw. Since they are mostly compliant with all of their examples.
Your post is mean and evil.... but.....
I read your post, and I laughed so hard my eyes teared.
People have opinions whether there informed or not. Thank you... you made my day.
If you have been using WebLogic off and on since before EJB (Enterprise JavaBeans) existed, you will still learn a bunch of new tricks.
.8 spec., I suggest that you get this book.
I forgive your mockery. But you misunderstand. Application servers existed before EJB. WebLogic server existed before EJB. The original before I edited to make it suitable for SlashDot (which can still be found on Amazon) reads: If you are new to WebLogic, I suggest that you get this book. If you have been working with WebLogic since before the EJB
Weblogic and other application servers predate EJB. Back when EJB came out, NetDynamnics was THE Application server before it got bought by Sun and merged with Netscape then became IPlanet and then Sun ONE.
Therefore, as loopy as it is, I stand by the technical merit of my first statement.
Even today WebLogic is much more than just an EJB server, and the book covers much more than EJB.
I have always heard good stories about WebLogic support. Maybe you just got the wrong person.
BTW I love Python. I just wish they would have made it a standard scripting language for JSP (Java Server Pages).
My Java Python Book
No Margin.... No Mission (Wait 2 minutes) Money runs the world http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF -8&q=%22no+margin%22++%22no+mission%22
The point is that code examples should employ best practices so that people who are learning new technolgies learn to use the correctly from the outset. BINGO.... wait 20 seconds before post... Hmmmmmmmmmmmm.... that is exactly what I meant.
I guess this is indicative of my English skill being bad. You are making fun of something I said, and I still think it looks right. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm..... If you have been using WebLogic off and on since before EJB (Enterprise JavaBeans) existed. Hmmmm..... Is it because I have both since and before?..... I think it is.... Write it the correct way and let me see... I believe the original read like this.... If you are new to WebLogic, I suggest that you get this book. If you have been working with WebLogic since before the EJB .8 spec., I suggest that you get this book.
I aint no English major that is for sure.... but it not be stopping me none from exspressing my opinions none. Ha Ha....
An editor once asked me if English was my first language. When I am in a hurry, my writing skills get worse.
I figured this was a pretty informal setting.
There are books that do exactly what you are saying.
Java Tools for Extreme Programming (Covers Ant, JUnit, J2EE development issues AND was number one under Software Development on Amazon for three months this year).
and
Java Development with Ant (Cover XDoclet)
come to mind....
If your interested in XDoclet (as you stated) check out this FREE multipart tutorial series that covers XDoclet, Ant doing EJB Development. EJB with XDoclet Step by Step based on earlier tutorial that has WebLogic and JBoss examples with XDoclet http://www.rickhightower.com/ejbcmpcmrtut.html. Also, I wrote two chapters in the upcoming book that covers Struts, XDoclet and Ant on Tomcat
Mastering Tomcat Development from Wiley . I wrote the chapter on Struts and the chapter on Ant/XDoclet for the Tomcat book. The Struts chapter rewrites a model 1 JSP based application to be a model 2 based Struts application (it uses XDoclet). The Ant/XDoclet Chapter has examples of using XDoclet for Custom Tags, Struts, Servlets, EJBs and more.
The books you are asking for already exist.... These are but a few examples. I don't think having books on these topics excludes having a book on weblogic. The world is big enough for both.
It sounds like you need a copy. I know I did. Ha Ha!
Dont' forget Resin EE.... Check out article on Resin: The Instant Application Server by Daniel Solin 09/18/2002 "Imagine a Java Web application server that runs on Unix, delivers incredible performance, is really easy to set up, and inexpensive to boot. Even crazier, imagine that this little app server offers all of the features you expect from a modern Java server, including JSP/servlets, XML/XSL, and EJB/CMP. "
What I meant (and I think you can glean this from the review) is that at times the examples used a weblogic centric approach when I know a more J2EE generic approach existed and would work just as well. I did not mean that the book should not cover weblogic centric features. In fact, I went on for a while about how I liked the weblogic centric features that it did cover. Clear???? If not email me, and I will clarify it further. It is a good book and if you are doing weblogic, I suggest that you get it.
Huh???? I was not complaining. I gave this book a 5 star rating, and said if you are doing weblogic get this book..... I was stating a fact. I can disagree with an approach and still like a book.
I like OpenOffice. I like the fact the files are just xml files in a zip file. The fileformat is easy to reverse engineer and use. I am a big fan.
"It is ... a pleasure to review ... books that are both original and useful. The first is Richard Hightower and Nicholas Lesiecki's Java Tools for Extreme Programming, which describes five new Open-Source Java programming tools... Java Tools is readable and well organized... As a bonus, the authors show how to use these tools together; for example, how to automate reexecution of JUnit tests using Ant."
--Gregory V. Wilson (Dr Dobb's)
"This book is the first of its kind, covering topics that haven't been explored this directly anywhere. It does a remarkable job, covering not just the tools but the philosophy behind good unit tests and frequent, automated builds...." ... ... "The philosophy behind this material is modern and forward thinking. ... (The book has the ) potential to make you a better programmer and better able to deliver higher-quality code on a shorter timeline. "
--Claude Duguay (JavaPro)
Check out the book web site for more details about the book. Java Tools for eXtreme Programming describes techniques for implementing the Extreme Programming practices of Automated Testing and Continuous Integration using Open Source tools, e.g., Ant, JUnit, HttpUnit, JMeter, and much more. This page contains review excerpts, links to the code, and a book description.
CHALLENGE:
You could post the problems you are having here in this forum. Then we can judge if its the book's examples or your skillset with Java and J2EE that is the problem. Some of the examples require J2EE experience.
BTW Try using Resin. We used the Resin application server for the examples.
If you like, you can email me privately and I can try to help. rick@rickhigtower.com
Link to book web site
Java Tools for eXtreme Programming describes techniques for implementing the Extreme Programming practices of Automated Testing and Continuous Integration using Open Source tools, e.g., Ant, JUnit, HttpUnit, JMeter, and much more.
There are other great books that cover other aspects of Extreme Programming. This book focuses on Automated Testing and Continuous Integration.
The book does mention XP throughout, but does not cover all other practices of XP in detail. This book focuses on the mechanics of XP. Other books cover the philosophy of XP quite nicely and there was no need to repeat it in this book. There is an introduction to all aspects of XP, however, the focus is on Automated Testing and Continuous Integration.
The book contains small examples and tutorials on each tool. The examples cover building, deploying, and testing Java and J2EE applications.
In addition to small examples, there are larger case studies. The case studies are larger more realistic examples. We have case studies involving XSLT, EJB, Struts, JDBC, etc.
Each case study is complete with an ant build script and several tests, written with JUnit, HttpUnit, Cactus, JUnitPerf and/or JMeter. The case studies focus on building, deploying and testing J2EE applications with Ant and JUnit.
There is also a reference section for APIs. Instead of rehashing the API documentation, the reference section has example usage, i.e., code examples for the important classes and methods.
Although this book speaks from an XP perspective, you need not practice XP to benefit from it. For example, you do not have to adopt the entire XP methodology to get value out of this book. Automated testing, for example, can help you refactor code regardless of whether you are doing pair programming or not. Continuous integration can help you detect and fix problems early in the lifecycle of the system regardless of whether your customer is on site or not.
There are some really great books on XP. Three of my favorites are as follows:
Extreme Programming Explained: Embrace Change by Kent Beck
Planning Extreme Programming by Kent Beck, Martin Fowler (favorite)
Agile Modeling: Effective Practices for Extreme Programming and the Unified Process by Scott W. Ambler
You will enjoy this book as it covers topics not covered in other books, i.e., essential topics that are critical to J2EE and Java development. This book is highly rated and is doing very well. If you are thinking about buying a copy check out these reviews reviews
The reviews for the book and comments on Amazon, TheServerSide.com, JavaRanch are very encouraging. Thank you all. And, thanks to SlashDot for reviewing the book on this forum...
I'd like to thank some other folks.
This book would not be possible without the great set of tools written for building and testing J2EE. I'd like to publicly thank James Duncan Davidson et al, Mike Clark, Vincent Massol et al, Kent Beck and Erich Gamma.
James Duncan Davidson et al created Ant. The de facto build tool for Java. This is the glue for building applications and making continuos integration doable with Java.
JUnit is the regression-testing framework written by Erich Gamma and Kent Beck. After looking at this code base you can see this framework screams with design patterns and solid OOP, and is central to Extreme Programming development with Java. It is as if these guys wrote *the definitive books* on Design Patterns and Extreme Programming--oh yeah they did!
Russell Gold wrote HttpUnit, which makes functional web applications easy and fun. (It can also be combined with Cactus.)
Mike Clark extended JUnit to provide JUnitPerf, which does load testing and performance testing. This code is an excellent example of how to extend JUnit. Mike Clark is also a really nice guy.
Vincent Massol et al for creating the Cactus (was J2EEUnit). I use this tool every day at work to unit test JSP Tags and EJBs. This is a truly novel tool. (BTW Nicholas Lesiecki, the co-author of the book, is an active committer on this project.)
Vincent Massol of Cactus contributed to the creation of the book. He reviewed the chapter on Cactus. His acknowledgement was accidentally omitted from the book during publication.
I am not implying that anyone mentioned above endorses the book or name dropping. I just wanted to thank them for contributing their time and effort to create these tools and then just give them away! Without them this book would not exist.
The book has been a bestseller under software development on Amazon most of this year. Thank you. We are blown away with the success of the book.
Check out these threads about the book if you get a chance....
Thread TheServerSide.com
Nick and I answered a lot of questions about the book at the JavaRanch as well...
Thread at JavaRanch
I've posted some more background information about the book here...
Book Web Site
I'll check back and try to answer any questions about the book. Thanks again.
The web site will soon have a sample chapter on it. Later, when we write the second edition, the book web site will have early drafts for review.
--Rick Hightower Co-Author of Java Tools for Extreme Programming