Congratulations to the newest Java Champion, Linda van der Pal!

van der Pal has been a developer since 2002, visiting many conferences to gather and share knowledge. In 2006, she founded Duchess, a network for women interested in Java. She is now a member of the board of the Duchess Dutch chapter, along with Java Champion Régina ten Bruggencate, helping to organize several social and technical meeting a year. "We give a voice to women all over the world who work with Java technology," van der Pal explained.

To further the cause of getting more kids interested in coding, she also visits several schools a year to talk about being a programmer on behalf of VHTO, the Dutch organization for women in technology. She also helped organize Devoxx for Kids in the Netherlands.  

Follow Linda on Twitter @DuchessFounder.

The Java Champions are an exclusive group of passionate Java technology and community leaders who are community-nominated and selected under a project sponsored by Oracle. Java Champions get the opportunity to provide feedback, ideas, and direction that will help Oracle grow the Java Platform. Nominees are named and selected through a peer review process. (Current Oracle employees are not eligible.) Learn more at the Java Champions page on Java.net.

A new article, now up on otn/java, by Java Champion Johan Vos, titled “JSR 356, Java API for WebSocket,” shows developers how to integrate WebSockets into their applications. JSR 356, part of the Java EE 7 platform, specifies the API that Java developers can use when they want to integrate WebSockets into their applications on both on the Java server and client side. The API is highly flexible, and frees developers to write WebSocket-based applications independent of the underlying WebSocket implementation, thus preventing vendor lock in. It also allows for more choice in libraries and application servers. Web clients or native clients leveraging any WebSocket implementation can more easily communicate with a Java back end.

As part of the Java EE 7 standard, all Java EE 7-compliant application servers will have an implementation of the WebSocket protocol that adheres to JSR 356. Vos explains:

“Once they are established, WebSocket client and server peers are symmetrical. The difference between a client API and a server API is, therefore, minimal. JSR 356 defines a Java client API as well, which is a subset of the full API required in Java EE 7….

The Java API for WebSocket is very powerful, because it allows any Java object to be sent or received as a WebSocket message.

Basically, there are three different types of messages:

* Text-based messages
* Binary messages
* Pong messages, which are about the WebSocket connection itself

When using the interface-driven model, each session can register at most one MessageHandler for each of these three different types of messages.

When using the annotation-driven model, for each different type of message, one @onMessage annotated method is allowed. The allowed parameters for specifying the message content in the annotated methods are dependent on the type of the message.”

Check out the article here and learn how to integrate WebSockets into your applications.

Orange Labs is running a contest for the next cool app powered by Java, in association with City of Warsaw and with investment partner IQ Partners.

The Grand Prize is an invitation to Oracle OpenWorld 2013 & JavaOne 2013 w San Francisco – hotel, airfare, and admission included! Three first place prizes are internships at Orange Labs. And the best business-oriented application creator IQ Partners SA will help to create own business (great funds are provided!).

The contest is open to any one with a good idea for an application. The application may use resources from the Orange network like location of devices, presence, device or subscriber information, billing or charging, form City Warsaw like P&R location or Veturilo Location. Contestants are encouraged to use other external resources such as weather, finance, health, etc to make their apps compelling and useful.

See registration and details at www.openmiddleware.pl

Hurry!

Registration closes on June 3rd. All registrations will be judged and finalists will be announced at websitewww.openmiddleware.pl.

Learn More at geecon

Attendees at geecon in Krakow, May 15-17 can get more details at these sessions:

Open API Hackathon introductory talk on "Building Mobile Apps Using Network Assets"
by Douglas Tait
16th May 14:40

Discussion panel on "Using the Network to Build Compelling Applications"

16th May 16:00 

JavaOne India
May 8-9, 2013,
Hyderabad International Convention Center

Java Strategy and Technical Keynotes 

Technical Sessions, In addition to Technical Sessions, Hands On Labs and an OTN VIP room with community sessions, and the Java Demogrounds, JavaOne India will include keynotes from the people who develop and drive the Java language and platform. You can hear from them, meet them, and ask your questions directly (you can tweet them during the keynote!).  In these keynotes, Oracle’s Java engineering luminaries will provide a glimpse of the future:

Java Strategy Keynote Speakers
Anil Gaur, Vice President of Server Technologies, Oracle
Nandini Ramani, Vice President of Engineering, Java Client and Mobile Platforms, Oracle
Georges Saab, Vice President of Development, Oracle
Sharat Chander, Group Director, Product Technology Outreach, Oracle

Java Technical Keynote Speakers
Angela Caicedo, Senior Member of Technical Staff, Oracle
Stephen Chin, Java Technology Ambassador and JavaOne Content Chair, Oracle
Arun Gupta, Java EE Technology Evangelist, Oracle
Simon Ritter, Java Technology Evangelist, Oracle
Jim Weaver, Consulting Member of Technical Staff, Oracle

What more could you ask? How about a savings of INR 1,400 on Registration Through 7 May 2013! Register now for JavaOne India, and you can acquire new skills, network with colleagues, and reconnect with your passion for Java.

We regularly receive quite a few questions about certifications for Java. What’s available? What’s changed? Should I bother to get certified? Am I still certified? Do I need to take training to get certified?  I talked to Kate Jones of the Certification Team at Oracle University to get your questions answered. 

Q: Kate, what's the good news for Java developers?

A: Java is still the # 1 developer platform in the world. Java is everywhere and it keeps growing, with 97% of enterprise desktops, 115 million TV devices and 3 billion mobile phones now running Java. Recent surveys given to hiring managers and recruiters have validated the huge demand for skilled developers in the marketplace. More specifically, for skilled Java developers.

Q: If I’ve been a Java Developer for years, why should I get Java Certified?

A: Certifications hold much more value when combined with solid experience - so you're actually a perfect candidate for certification! Certification doesn't just validate what you know, it demonstrates your commitment to skill development. Check out the post Wanted: Java Certified Experts for more info on this topic.

Q: How different are the Java SE 7 certifications compared to the Java SE 6 certifications?

A: There are significant differences. Oracle University saw an opportunity to improve the Java SE 7 Oracle Certified Associate (OCA) and Oracle Certified Professional (OCP) exams to test a broader range of features and skills so they're more relevant to real-world job functions. Both exams include more advanced content, which gives the credentials more value in the marketplace. We’ve also revised the path to require individuals to achieve their OCA certification before pursuing their OCP exam. For those who already hold a Sun Certified Java Professional (SCJP) or OCP credential, upgrade exams are available to the OCP, Java SE 7 Programmer certification without having to take the OCA exam first.

Q: For the Java SE 7 Certifications, why is OCA now a prerequisite for OCP?

A: With the release of Java SE 7, we saw an opportunity to improve both the OCA and OCP Certifications. In the past, the OCA exam covered more introductory and fundamental concepts so it was not highly sought-after or valued by hiring managers. The Java SE 7 OCA exam now covers more advanced content, content that was previously covered on the OCP exam. We also added additional objectives to the OCP exam to give it more value. The result is that we now have two improved exams that will test you on a greater breadth of skills and position you for greater success.

Q: Do I need to buy training classes from Oracle University in order to earn my Java certification?

A: Training is not currently a requirement for the Oracle Certified Associate, Professional or Expert level Java certifications. Training is only a requirement for the Oracle Certified Master (OCM) level certifications, which includes the OCM, the Java SE 6 Developer and the Java Enterprise Architect certifications. Master certifications are the most advanced credentials so we require training to help prepare candidates for the hands on nature of the exam and to ensure candidates have an in-depth expertise of the technology area. 

Read Kate’s post Java Certification: Your Burning Questions Answered on the Oracle University blog. Have more questions? Ask us here. 

The new release this week of Oracle Java ME Embedded 3.3 for ARM Cortex M3 make the Oracle Java ME Embedded product available as a reference binary for the Keil MCBSTM32F200 platform for development/evaluation purposes. This binary comes integrated with RTX OS. To help you get up and running, Oracle Java Evangelist Angela Caicedo has created a new two part video that shows you all the steps you need to follow to develop your first applications using Java ME Embedded 3.3 on the Keil evaluation board.

Video: Getting Started with Java ME Embedded 3.3 Part One

This new tutorial video provides the step-by-step guide to get Oracle Java ME Embedded for ARM Cortex M3 up and running on the on Keil evaluation board: from the configuration of the software and hardware, and how to    test; how to connect to the command line and logging interfaces; and of course how to get started with this Java ME Embedded application. Angela walks us through how to install, update and even uninstall the application.

Video: Getting Started with Java ME Embedded 3.3 Part Two

In the second video, Caicedo uses Netbeans 7.3 with Oracle Java ME SDK 3.3 NetBeans Plugin, Java ME SDK 3.3 (early access) and the Oracle Java ME Embedded 3.3 for ARM Cortex M3/RTX software distribution to create an embedded application, run it on an emulator and provides tips on how you can debug your application. Then using these tools you will be taken through the steps to create your first application, deploy it, and test that everything is running properly.

Oracle Java ME Embedded 3.3 complete product functionality such as peripheral IO, AMS operations, headless operations, functionality for remote application management/configurability, etc. is available on the Keil MCBSTM32F200 platform. Download and see the documentation on OTN to learn more.

Oracle has released three updates to Java. It is important to note that they contain several security changes. The releases are:

Java SE 7 Update 21
This release contains new features and fixes for security vulnerabilities, including a new Server JRE, JRE Installer linked with Uninstall Applet on Windows platform, changes to Security Dialogs and more. Oracle strongly recommends that all Java SE 7 users upgrade to this release. 
Release Notes   Download

Java SE 6 Update 45
This release contains fixes for security vulnerabilities. 
Release Notes   Download

Java SE Embedded 7 Update 21
This release is based on Java Development Kit 7 Update 21 (JDK 7u21) and provides specific features and support for embedded systems. 
Release Notes   Download

Security Changes 

In addition to security fixes, Oracle has included new security features in this release. These are significant:

• Starting with Java SE 7u21, a Server Java Runtime Environment (Server JRE) package is available for deploying Java applications on servers. The Server JRE includes the same high performance JVM that is available in the JDK and JRE packages, tools for JVM monitoring and tools commonly required for server applications.  It does not include browser integration (the Java plug-in), auto-update, nor installer. Learn more in the Release Notes.
  
  
• Changes to Java Control Panel's Security Settings - In this release, low and custom settings are removed from the Java Control Panel(JCP)'s Security Slider. Depending on the security level set in the Java Control Panel and the user's version of the JRE, self-signed or unsigned applications might not be allowed to run. The default setting of High permits all but local applets to run on a secure JRE. If the user is running an insecure JRE, only applications that are signed with a certificate issued by a recognized certificate authority are allowed to run. For more information, see the Security section of the Java Control Panel documentation.
  
  
• Changes to Security Dialogs - Specifically, all Java code executed within the client’s browser will prompt the user. The type of dialog messages the user sees depends upon the risk factors. Low-risk scenarios present a very minimal dialog and include a checkbox to not display similar dialogs by the same vendor in the future. Higher risk scenarios, such as running unsigned jars, will require more user interaction given the increased risk. See the Java Source Blog IMP: Your Java Applets and Web Start Applications Should Be Signed.
  
  Resources that will be helpful for both developers and end-users are:
• What should I do when I see a security prompt from Java?  (Java.com FAQ)
• Java Content in the Browser — Application Publisher Security Messages (Java.com FAQ) 
• Java Applet & Web Start - Code Signing (OTN FAQ)
  
  
• Changes to RMI - From this release, the RMI property java.rmi.server.useCodebaseOnly is set to true by default. In previous releases the default value was false. This change of default value may cause RMI-based applications to break unexpectedly. The typical symptom is a stack trace that contains a java.rmi.UnmarshalException containing a nested java.lang.ClassNotFoundException. For more information, see RMI Enhancements in Java SE 7 documentation.
  
  
• JDK for Linux on ARM - this release includes support for JDK for Linux on ARM. The product offers headful support for ARMv6 and ARMv7.

A new article, up on otn/java, by yours truly, titled “The Advent of Kotlin: A Conversation with JetBrains' Andrey Breslav,” explores the new statically typed language, Kotlin, which was named  Language of the Month in the January 2012 issue of Dr. Dobb's Journal. Kotlin is a product of the highly lauded Czech software development company, JetBrains, maker of the Java IDE IntelliJ IDEA. Project Kotlin aspires to create for developers a general-purpose language that can serve as a useful tool that is safe, concise, flexible, and 100 percent Java-compatible. Both the compiler and the IntelliJ IDEA plug-in are open source under the Apache 2 license, with source code available through GitHub.

Breslav, the lead language designer for Kotlin, discusses Kotlin's features in the interview.  Here are some things he points out:

* “Extension functions and properties in Kotlin can be added to any class/type without altering the definition of the class. This enables us to beautify even existing Java libraries so that the good old JDK looks nice and shiny.
* Higher-order functions (passing code around as values) are a lot more convenient, because Kotlin supports proper function types (as opposed to Java 8's SAM conversions that make you create a new interface every time you need a new function signature to be passed around).
* Declaration-site variance, and variant collections in particular, make common data processing much more natural by eliminating the need for ubiquitous wildcards in generic types.”

Breslav says that Kotlin promotes null safety, through nullable types and “offers control over data modification through read-only collections and data classes and enables safer runtime checks through smart casts.”

He states that Java developers who are in search of a new language will enjoy Kotlin’s clean abstractions, concise syntax, and type safety. Breslav encourages developers to download the compiler and/or a plug-in for IntelliJ IDEA, and start writing their own applications. Any feedback about what developers like and dislike, what they find difficult to understand, and how they are making use of Kotlin will be much appreciated.

Check out the article here.

The OpenJDK Governing Board, which oversees the structure and operation of the OpenJDK Community, has elected two At-Large Members: Andrew Haley and Doug Lea. Both were previously serving as at At-Large members and began new one-year terms on April 1.

Andrew Haley, of Red Hat, wrote in his candidate statement that his goal is to “stand up for freedom and steer the governing board toward helping people who crank out code to get their job done.”

Lea, of SUNY Oswego, wrote that he hoped “to continue my role as an advocate for continuing improvements in OpenJDK processes and mechanisms, especially as they impact the academic, research, and individual contributor communities.”

The OpenJDK Governing Board oversees the structure and operation of the OpenJDK Community. It has two At-Large Members who serve for a term of one calendar year, nominally starting on the first day of April each year.