Sunday 7 August 2011

Significant events


I am an occasional blogger. So here is the occasion. A big one. Actually there are three interconnected events:
  1. Oracle finally released the latest (7th) version of the standard edition variant of the prominent Java programming language's SDK. The tech related part of the web is all boiling with the fuss. Use it! Don't use it! There are severe bugs in the JVM. There's nothing scary about the bugs - they'll be fixed before the JVM is adopted in production. The new syntax enhancements are great. There's not enough new features to the language. Etc., etc., etc. It's always been and will always be a work in progress - there'll always be hideous bugs lurking in the code invisible, until the rarest never-met-before conditions bring them to the light. It's OK. Bugs, features, fallacies - its' all part of producing software. Any kind of software. Even great meta-software like Java. Since the engine is here, where's the new chassis so we can utilize it for a nice smooth software development drive? Here it comes.
  2. Oracle released the 7th version of the NetBeans IDE some time before the official release of the Java SE 7 SDK, so after the first event on the list, they had to release the NetBeans 7.0.1 with the required official support. Game on! The IDE is ready for download you very well know where from. I wish it was available in the Ubuntu repositories also, but I don't think this will be an option soon.
  3. A book. You didn't expect this, right? In fact it is a very nice book about how the IDE eases the development of Java 6 Enterprise applications. I won't tell more about it right now, because I'm in process of going through it, in order to make a full review. So, with no more distractions, I'm diving back to Mr. Heffelfinger's thoughtfully organized and narrated set of screen-shots. Here's the cover to just whet your appetite:

All the three events are pretty significant for the NetBeans users. The tool of the trade was upgraded and on the other hand there is a concise source of some background information for the developers.
A review to come. See ya ;)

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