I'm Back!!

[Kathy Sierra]

Oh wow, I missed you cowboys and cowgirls. I was on the road for almost three weeks (much longer than I had planned), but I'm back now and just starting to catch up. Here's the status as I know it:
* We are still in BIG need for people to show up and take the beta.
Nobody expected that this would happen -- we all thought everyone would take it in the first two weeks, but a LOT of people have not shown up for their exam, so now we need to get people in soon. If we don't get people in soon enough, the beta *could* be extended, but that will slow down the release of the exam (and delay the beta takers from learning whether they passed) so we hope not to do that.
* We are back to work on the study guide and will post pieces and mock exams periodically over the next two months for those who will be taking the exam when it first comes out (early September / late August).
* Sun is REALLY going after Prometric to ensure that they have upgraded their machines at all test centers, so that the machines can handle the drag and drop questions. This is being resolved VERY quickly. I think a lot of the problem had to do with operating systems... some centers were still on Windows 98!
* I haven't begun to read the recent topics and posts, so forgive me if I answer questions or comment on things that have already been discussed. I'll try to catch up.
A HUGE thank-you to everyone who helped out in this forum while I was gone, especially Valentin, Mark, etc.
cheers and now get back to your studies!
-Kathy

[Mark Spritzler]

I am so glad you are back. Did you guys have fun? Did you guys get to go see The Matrix on Imax that night?
Anyway, when I took the exam today, it was on a machine that was Windows 98, and I had no problems with the drag and drop questions. You just had to make sure the cursor changed into a box to let you know that it would stick.
It is great to have you back.
Mark

[faiza athar]

Welcome Back!!!
I just moved from michigan to West Hartford, Connecticut and to my utter despair found that there is no testing center in or close to my city where i can take the test on weekends .
Can this be solved ?
Please try to extend the beta if possible...or arrange for the weekends. Its really unfair that weekends are not possible in my city
Thanx for all the suggesstions!
faiza

[Syed AliRaza Zaidi]

Welcome back Kathy

[Ashik Uzzaman]

Welcome back Kathy. What do you say about this yesr's JavaOne in One word or one sentence?

[Axel Janssen]

I've posted on german java newsgroup de.comp.lang.java
Email to Evelyn Cartagena, should send prometic ID, candidate should have SCJP2 and exam until 07.July, right?
Axel

[Kathy Sierra]

Howdy all --
(yes Mark, we *did* see The Matrix Reloaded on the IMAX screen in SF, and it was fabulous!)
One sentence (OK, maybe more) on JavaOne:

* Upbeat / positive -- much more than I had expected. Almost felt like the good ol' days of JavaOnes in years gone by.
* Encouraging news from Sun, with actual results like java.net, java.com, and the new branding/logo. Also new development tools
* An emphasis on getting a lot more people programming in Java, with plans to go from 3 million to 10 million Java programmers. Gotta start somewhere
If they are even a fraction as successful as they want to be with this goal, javaranch is going to get a whole lot busier.
* Two years ago, the big push was to "get ready for mobile/wireless, NOW -- Big Opportunity! Don't wait!" Well, it has taken a long while for the java-enabled cell phones to make their way from europe and asia into the US, but now it seems that what they thought was just around the corner two years ago, now really IS happening. Lots and lots of fun. I don't think anyone should completely ignore the developments in this world. Tools are getting better, the J2ME wireless kit is AWESOME! (And it's from Sun... not really known for tools...but this thing rocks).
* Jini is not yet dead , and in fact there was a fair amount of interest this year. But then they finally added the security model ("Davis" version) and it really looks daunting. As many of you know, doing "hello world" in Jini is just about the hardest thing you can do in Java. Well, not it makes doing that in Jini 1.1 like something a five-year old can do compared to trying to implement it with full security features in Davis. Actually, the implementation might not be that bad, but you practically have to become a security expert just to figure out what to do. So there's a HUGE learning curve before you can even learn the new APIs. Makes you really appreciate security in J2EE/EJB.
* I am being dragged, kicking and screaming, into appreciating JXTA. Still feels like "Jini without the cool parts", but then again, it IS a way to have a Jini-like programming model (at a very high level anyway), over the web.
* Web services are happening. Better get used to it.
* EJB 2.1 is going to make deployment of web services SO DAMN EASY!
* EJB 2.1 won't be much of an upgrade in terms of new knowledge for developers. So relax, this won't be ANYTHING like the drastic change from EJB 1.1 to EJB 2.0. When this EJB cert is upgraded for EJB 2.1 (not for quite a long time), it will change only very slightly.
* Tiger (J2SE 1.5) is just too awesome for words. I can't wait! I'm already excited about head-firstizing some of the new features, even though it's still a long way off.
* Met a lot of the javaranchers in person for the first time, and-- what a good looking group! Yes, that includes Mark Spritzler
And pretty much the nicest people around. There is something about people who volunteer their services to help others... they just LOOK friendly
* Java on the desktop - YAY! Of course, we hear this every year "Java on the desktop is roaring back..." but I love to hear it every year. And there are some developments, including some combining of JWS (web start) and the plug-in, so that there will be only one control panel, also ways to make getting Java on the client much easier for the end-user (like java.com)
I started in Java to do applets and games (Rules Roundup was my very first Java program -- worst code ever written, but hey, the cows were double-buffered -- not such an easy trick in the old AWT ) so I am always thrilled to think about doing less on the server and more on the desktop. The little cellphone games look really fun too. You could create one of those in a weekend.
* What I will pay attention to most in the next year:
-- Web services
-- Mobile/Wireless development (and market)
-- Waiting for finalization of the new J2EE/EJB specs
-- New development tools / IDEs
-- Start playing with Tiger early releases, just for fun

Everything I said here is just my own personal opinion, and I may be WAY off the target. Either way, I found JavaOne (this was my fifth) to be very positive and encouraging. Made me proud to be a Java enthusiast.
cheers,
-Kathy

[Pradeep bhatt]

Kathy
Can you please suggest me some book for webservices?

[Al Newman]

Interesting notes on JavaOne, Kathy. Thanks.
Some comments. I became quite excighted about Web Services last year and invested quite a bit of time and money learning a lot about them, only to discover during my recent job search that there is next to no demand for Java Web Services people yet. There is a bit more demand in the .NET area I believe, but the demand I see now is for App Server people with either EJB or web-tier technology. Another shocker is in messaging, where Tibco and Web Methods remain way in front of JMS from a job market POV.
I have to wonder whether Java Web Services isn't something which will begin maturing in a year or two?
Jini is another technology in which I have a lot of interest, but the story has been the same as with Web Services, but even worse. I have to wonder how anything so complex is ever going to gain major market acceptance? Davis doesn't appear to improve things from that perspective, either. It's not like there isn't enough to learn in EJB and supporting technologies, is it?
[ June 30, 2003: Message edited by: Alfred Neumann ]

[Gustavo Torreti]

Welcome back, fair lady!
So, there is still much to be done , just in order to get enough time to get ready for more stuff comin'
Does anybody know if a beta Tiger (1.5) is downloaddable someplace? I'd read a small tech note from a Sun's Engineer and it was so thrilling!
I saw what Sun ment with the explosive growth. Simply amazing!!

Thank you for your comments on J1, K, and welcome back at the ranch!

The dreamer,
Gus

[Kathy Sierra]

Howdy --
Just wanted to add that I think Alfred's comments are right on target. I do think Web Services is still in the "coming up" phase, but it *appears* that it really is coming. So, yes, I'd keep it on your radar without investing a ton of time in it right now. Bert said something to me this morning about "Web services is basically using XML as your interface to the back-end services." I don't know if he read that somewhere or what, but I like that explanation. Most of the rest seems to be about the publishing (i.e. how do you EXPOSE your services and how do others DISCOVER them) and implementation (how do you PARSE the incoming XML messages and how do you package up a REPLY / RETURN).
OK, enough about that
I don't yet have a recommendation of a Web Services book, but I'm going to need one myself very very soon. I am just about to begin a research project for Sun on how people are using Web Services right now, and how they plan to in the near future. So we'll see how things develop... in the meantime, anything you learn about J2EE and EJB is a Really Good Thing, it seems.
cheers,
Kathy

[Mark Spritzler]

And one other thing to note about Web Services, is that you might not need one. If the client that uses the Web Service is written in Java, then using a Servlet, EJB, or RMI is a better solution.
Web Services are really meant for, what is a good word for it. Different languages. meaning If I am writing a VB program that will exchanges currency, I could call a Web Service written in Java(tm) to do that for me, and not need to know anything about Java(tm) . It is kind of like XML in that XML is to allow different applications written in different languages pass information to each other. If you created a client and server all in Java(tm), why would you want to add the overhead of reading and writing XML and using the corresponding APIs on both sides, when RMI will pass Java(tm) Objects back and forth for you. (note. I am not saying that is all XML is good for.)
It is kind of like the golden hammer. Yeah its a great tool, but you can't or shouldn't use it for everything.
Mark
[ June 30, 2003: Message edited by: Mark Spritzler ]

[Andres Gonzalez]

Hello Kathy, good to see you back!
How about EJB 3.0? did they mention something about it...? I've read somewhere it's gonna be way easier than the current 2.1.
you'll have things like this : @session in front of the class name and @remote in front of the getters, no deployment descriptor (!!!), etc..
and what about AOP? aspectJ? is it becoming more popular?
cheers
[ June 30, 2003: Message edited by: Andres Gonzalez ]

[Billy Tsai]

Hi
I still have not received the E-voucher in my email despite the fact I registered early in may and received a confirmation email after I registered...............
btw when is ur book coming out and is it enough for a beginner to EJB to pass SCBCD?

[Al Newman]

Kathy wrote:

I am just about to begin a research project for Sun on how people are using Web Services right now, and how they plan to in the near future. So we'll see how things develop... in the meantime, anything you learn about J2EE and EJB is a Really Good Thing, it seems.

We'll see. Seems to me that the obvious app for Web Services is to talk to the Micro$oft world (.NET) and all that. It might be a decent choice for data encoded in XML, but I'm not sure it's superior to other transmission mechanisms like RMI or JMS. Count me a skeptic on the UDDI upper-level services, because corportations simply won't buy services anonymously because you never know what you will get!
Mark wrote:

And one other thing to note about Web Services, is that you might not need one. If the client that uses the Web Service is written in Java, then using a Servlet, EJB, or RMI is a better solution.

Eggszactly. The obvious app is .NET connectivity, and I don't necessarily see a competitive advantage for any of the other uses.
But I could be wrong....
Andres wrote:

and what about AOP? aspectJ? is it becoming more popular?

From all I hear this is going to be useful and could be very big in the longer term. There's a guy in my JUG who swears by it, says you can instrument a code base to do all kinds of things. It has a huge advantage over Web Services in that individuals can adopt it (not that they are comparable of course).
Problem with Web Services is that it takes two to tango. Actually, it takes many to do the Web Service tango, and folks aren't dancing yet. They may never learn....

[Johannes de Jong]

Bert said something to me this morning about "Web services is basically using XML as your interface to the back-end services."
Bert is a very clever man hold on to him