A new article, titled "Oracle Senior VP Steve Harris on Oracle's Vision of Java," summarizes a talk given by Steven G. Harris, Oracle's Senior VP of Application Server Development, on January 24 at the International Oracle Users Group Community (IOUC) Summit. The article offers a detailed articulation of Oracle's view of the state of the Java platform, the challenges it currently faces, and the vision of Java's future.

From the article:

"All of our middleware -- when we talk about Fusion Middleware -- is written in Java," Harris noted. "So here's the message: If Java is not successful, we will fail. We really want Java to be successful, so keeping Java open, and having developers working in Java is really critical to our success."

Read the entire article here.

Not everyone knows that Oracle is a long-time strategic member and board member of the Eclipse Foundation and the second main contributor to its projects. Their relationship is even more critical since Oracle became the steward of Java. As Mike Milinkovich, from the Eclipse Foundation, puts it on OpenJDK panel "as goes Java, so goes Eclipse" since Java is the dominant technology on Eclipse.

A third of the keynote's room was surprised that IBM joined OpenJDK project but everyone agreed that it was a good thing. Mark Reinhold, Chief Architect of the Java Platform Group at Oracle and John Duimovich, Java CTO at IBM, called the recent developments a "Java Renaissance". The Java Community Process is functioning again and approved Java SE 7 JSR. IBM, Apple and Redhat are now participating in OpenJDK so the same code base will be implemented on more platforms. The improvements to the Java platform are underway with JDK 7 developer preview, Project Coin and the JDK 7 releases. JDK 8 and 9 features are also being discussed. In investing in Java and its ecosystem, Oracle is looking after its own interest since most of its products are written in Java and those products represent an important part of its indirect revenue.

Responding to all the uncertainty about the future of Java, IBM joined the OpenJDK project to show its commitment to Java. As John Duimovich explains "we believe in the future of Java. We have a lot of products in Java, making direct revenue." IBM wants to reinforce the JCP process, contribute resources to improve transparent processes and contribute to, evaluate and improve to the OpenJDK project with IBM's deep expertise and experience. The collaboration main goal is to enrich the Java ecosystem: encourage more contributors to join OpenJDK and create more reference implementations for Java SE.

With 17 tutorials and regular sessions during the 4 day event, Oracle was a Gold sponsor. The sessions covered technologies and products for developers to increase their productivity and scale their projects. With a more commercial purpose, were sessions about OpenJDK, HotRockit, Beanstalk, EcipseLink DBWS, Oracle Enterprise Pack for Eclipse and more. For a broader eclipse community, there were sessions about improvements to the Java language with Project Coin and to OSGi-enabled Java EE Applications using GlassFish. Also presented were Eclipse projects, that Oracle engineers are contributing to: Gemini, Virgo, Sapphire and Web Tool Platform.

• Mark Reinhold blog
• Java 7 Developer Preview
• Project Coin
• Project
• Coin Slides at EclipseCon 2011
• Articles on Project Coin
• IBM SDK for Java 7
• OSGi and JavaEE tutorial
• Eclipse projects: EclipseLink, Gemini, Sapphire, Web Tool Platform
• Free and Open-source software
• Enterprise Pack for Eclipse

With feature phones representing more than 80% of the global handset market, there's a huge opportunity for developers to distribute rich content and applications to these devices. The Java Platform, Micro Edition (Java ME) enables your content to reach more end users than any other mobile applications platform. By attending this Webcast, you will learn how developing on Java ME gives you a competitive edge and helps you reach the broadest audience possible. 

In particular, the webcast focuses on the following topics:

• Market dynamics and trends in India, China, and South-East Asia
  
• Application distribution and Monetization models
  
• Case Studies and Success Stories

Register and view this important on-demand webcast today

It's been a good week for Java ME.  Although much of the hype in so-called "developed markets" is focused on smartphone platforms, the majority of the world continues to use feature phones and the best way to bring applications to these devices is with Java ME.  In India alone, feature phone users outnumber smartphone users by a factor of 18 to 1!  Because of the vast number of Java ME enabled phones, app development for the platform represents a significant market opportunity for mobile app developers. With minimal code modifications developers can reach hundreds of millions of feature phones.

Well, a couple of events have occurred in the past week that reinforce this opportunity.  Remember Snaptu, you know, the company that enables Facebook to run on billions of phones?  Facebook decided this week to shell out $70 million dollars and acquire Snaptu outright.  Why?  Well, by some estimates there are around 1.4 billion personal computers in the world. 1.4 billion might seem like a huge number, but a number of estimates peg the total number of mobile subscribers at close to 5 billion or more - more than 3 times the number of personal computers.  In addition, Facebook has been striking deals to enable users to access their mobile portal for free in certain geographies.  Through applications that deliver "smartphone-like" user experiences on lower-cost devices and through free access in key geographies, Facebook has the opportunity to significantly improve their reach.

Another company making headlines this week is Bitstream, whose new Bolt SDK enables developers to "build feature rich Java (Java ME) applications that work just as well on entry-level feature phones as they do on high-end smartphones."  The Bolt browser is one of the more popular Java ME applications and one of its key benefits is that it can take advantage of compression technologies on the back-end to improve the on-device experience, enabling users to render full web content on low-cost devices.  With its new SDK, Bitstream is empowering developers to leverage the capability of the Bolt browser from within their applications. 

If you are interested in learning more, check out our webcast: Mobile Java Applications in Feature Phones, A rich Opportunity for Developers

Attention Boston area developers!  Oracle has been running a series of free one-day Java Developer events in the US, Europe, and Asia since last November, and on March 3rd, this highly popular series is coming to the Westin Copley Place in Boston. 

The Java Developer Day will include four tracks of sessions and hands-on-labs designed for developers interested in Server, Desktop, Embedded, and core Java SE platform topics.  Technologies covered include Java EE, Java ME and Java SE (including the JDK).  From the event page:
 
Come to this free event if you are interested in:

• Evaluating the Java platform
• Using other languages on the JVM
• Building server side Java
• Constructing Rich Web or Desktop Applications
• Understanding the JVM and its built in diagnostics
• Making Smart Devices even smarter
  

Check out the event" page to read more and/or register.  The event is free, but space is limited so register" today!

VisionMobile is currently soliciting feedback for the second edition of their popular Mobile Developer Economics report.  With the 2011 edition, VisionMobile is hoping to:

 "see how the dynamics of the developer world have changed since early 2010 and to provide more insights into app marketing, monetization and many other factors."

If you have a couple of minutes, please check out the survey and provide your input.  In addition please help us spread the word to make sure that Java developers are well represented in this survey.  Thanks!

On year ago, tomorrow, Oracle became the steward of Java through its acquisition of Sun.
We invite you to join us tomorrow on the anniversary of this memorable event for a special TechCast Live conversation with Ajay Patel, VP of Product development for Application Grid Products and Justin Kestelyn of Oracle Technology Network. Topics that will be covered include:

- Highlights, challenges and what we learned over the past year
- The Future of Java and its importance to Oracle and the community
- Oracle's Application Grid product portfolio today

Date:
Feb, 15, 10:00am PST

Watch it live (tomorrow)

The Smart Grid is one of the most significant evolutions of our utility infrastructure in recent history. This innovative grid will soon revolutionize how utilities manage and control the energy in our homes--helping utilities reduce energy usage during peak hours, improve overall energy efficiency, and lower your energy bills.

If you'd like to learn more about the Smart Grid and the role that Java is poised to play in this important initiative you can check out our on-demand webcast. We'll show you how Java solutions--including Java ME and Java SE for Embedded --can help build devices and infrastructure that take advantage of this new market. As the world's most popular developer language, Java enables you to work with a wide range of developers and provides access to tools and resources to build smarter devices, faster and more affordably.

The nights are getting darker, the email traffic seems to be getting lighter and the holiday season feels like its right around the corner - but the world of Java is still as active as ever and shows no signs of taking a break!  Let's take a look at everything that has been brewing over the past couple of weeks:

Product Updates and Resources

• JCP Approves JSRs for Java SE 7, Java SE 8, Project Coin and Lambda (read more)
  
• Java SE Update 23 Released, delivers improved performance and enhanced support for right-left languages. (read more or download)
• New Tutorial: JDK 7 Support in NetBeans IDE 7.0
• Java EE 6 and Glassfish 3.0 have celebrated their respective one year anniversaries!  (read more) So naturally, it's time to start talking about Java EE 7 (read more)
  

Webcasts

• On Demand: Developing Rich Clients for the Enterprise with the JavaFX Composer, Part 1
• Coming soon: Smarter Devices with Oracle's Embedded Java Solutions

Podcasts

• Java Spotlight Podcast Episode 7: Interview with Adam Messinger, Vice President of Java Development on Java One Brazil, Java SE Development, OpenJDK, JavaFX 2.0 and more! 
  
• The NetBeans team released Episode 53 of the NetBeans Podcast series on December 3rd marking the first episode in nearly 12 months.  Sign of things to come?
  

Community and Events

• JavaOne was held for the first time in Brazil this year, and by all accounts it was a great success!  Read more about this exciting first in the following posts from Tori Wieldt (JavaOne Latin America Underway) and Janice Heiss (JavaOne in Brazil)
• JavaOne was also held in Bejing for the first time last week and was also a huge success. Will try to include coverage of this event in the near future

Articles and Interviews

• An update on JavaServer Faces with Oracle's Ed Burns (read more)
• Interview with Java Champion Matjaz B. Juric on Cloud Computing, SOA, and Java EE 6 (read more)
• The 2010 JavaOne Java EE 6 Panel: Where We Are and Where We're Going (read more)
  

Oracle Magazine
The latest issue of Oracle Magazine is up and in what will hopefully be a sign of the future, it includes a number of columns and articles on Java.  First is an editorial from Editor-in-Chief Tom Haunert who shares some insight into the long-standing relationship that Oracle has had with Java. Next up is a Oracle Technology Network Chief Justin Kestelyn's Community Bulletin entitled: Java Evolves.  And finally, Java Champion Adam Bien's feature on Java EE 6: Simplicity by Design

Enjoy!

Are you or your company building intelligent embedded devices? If so, you may want to check out this webcast on building smart devices with Oracle's Embedded Java Solutions. Java is the best application platform for secure, network-enabled devices, and with Java you can build touch-enabled user interfaces, obtain secure-access to on-device sensors and build powerful and portable applications without worrying about memory leaks or performance degradation.

In this live webcast, presented by Oracle Product Director, Jacob Lehrbaum (yes, that's me) you will discover for yourself why Java is the most popular developer language today and you will learn about the range of solutions available for everything from resource constrained devices to desktop- and server-class devices.

*UPDATE* When:  January 11th 2011, 10:00 AM Pacific Standard Time

Register today to reserve your spot!

It seems like there is always something happening around Java and there just isn't enough time to feature everything that happens.  So I'd like to start a new (weekly) feature where we strive to capture some of the major events that have happened over the past week or so.  Did I miss anything?  comment below and let us know!

• Obviously the big news this week is JavaOne Brazil. Brazil has always been a big (and vocal) support of Java so its great to see JavaOne take place in that great country. 
  
• Java Spotlight Podcast #5: Feature interview with Brazilian Java Champions Bruno Souza and Fabiane Nardon in preparation for JavaOne Brazil.  Also featured:  Devoxx recap and a Java SE update
  
• Java Spotlight Podcast #6: Feature interview with Michael Kölling and Ian Utting, BlueJ and Greenfoot creators.  Also featured: update on Java EE 7 draft specifications including JAX-RS 2.0, JPA 2.1, JSF 2.2 (HTML5), JMS and more!
• OpenJDK on Mac OS X:  Want to check out an unofficial build of OpenJDK 7 for Snow Leopard?  You're in luck!  This new project has published working binaries as well as everything needed to build and package OpenJDK 1.7 for Mac OS X 10.6
  
• Java SE Embedded run circles around Android: Oracle's Bob Vandette has published a lengthy blog comparing the performance of Android 2.2 (Froyo) with the latest Java SE Embedded release.  In his detailed writeup, he compares the two virtual machines using a series of benchmarks that show Java SE Embedded coming out ahead each time, and by a substantial factor of 2X-3X.
• Why I like the new JavaFX 2.0: Check out Jim Connors' thoughts on why he likes the new JavaFX including better tooling, performance, and integration with Java.
• Free, Pre-built Virtualbox Images for Java Developer: Java Developer Days... from the comfort of your own home!
• Register for a live Webcast on Java TV Standards presented by Oracle's Chief Digital Media officer on December 16th
  
• Preview: LWUIT Builder - check out a growing number of screencasts created directly by the LWUIT team on this exciting new tool for mobile developers

So, what did we miss?
  

You might not know this, but Java is running in more than 80 million television devices world-wide.  Its running in every single Blu-ray player, in a large number of cable settop boxes and is at the heart of many of the digital tv standards (Tru2way, Ginga-J, etc) that will be driving the next wave of digital, interactive content. 

If you are interested in learning more about this topic, Bill Sheppard, Oracle's Chief Digital Media Officer for the Java Development Group will be hosting a live webcast on December 16th that will step you through many of the TV standards where Java is playing a key role and will also show you a demonstration of a futuristic Java-based user interface concept.

Who should attend:

1) OEMs interested in building IPTV devices with Java
2) Developers and ISVs looking to build content for the emerging TV applications market
3) Content providers interested in learning more about Blu-ray and related standards
4) Anyone interested in learning more about the future of digital TV content

When:  December 16th 2010, 10:00 AM Pacific Standard Time

Register today to reserve your spot!

The future of Java discussion panel synthesized the week-long keynotes and core Java sessions. This panel considering the future of the Java platform tapped into a rich vein of community feedback. On whiteboards as well as online, pools had been running during the whole conference on questions related to Java and its ecosystem.

For the panel, there were 6 Java stars answering the most popular poll questions. These were Joshua Bloch, Mark Reinhold, Stephen Colebourne, Antonio Goncalves, Juergen Hoeller, Bill Venners. The panel was moderated by the renowned JavaPosse friends: Dick Wall and Joe Nuxoll. The speakers could put a tin foil hat on if they could not comment on a certain topic. Mark put his tin foil hat during the TCK license discussion. Some of the topics were Oracle's new role with the Java community, licensing, Google lawsuit, Java platform and APIs, mobile ecosystem, and JCP.

The day finished with sessions presented by two well-known community members: Adam Bien and Dan Allen. They both described practical applications of Java EE 6. Adam Bien presented the creation of a lightweight application using only Vanilla Java EE 6. The session was about building lean, maintainable and scalable applications only using Java EE 6 technologies. Dan Allen talked about JSR-299, Contexts and Dependency Injection for the Java EE platform and how it relates to and enhances the Java EE platform as a whole.

This was a great conference. The session content will be available on Parleys in a week.

 

The Duchess, a "Women in Java" organization, had a great one-hour Bird of a Feather (BoF) yesterday. In addition to having a great logo, the organization provides a platform for women to connect, learn about technology and build regional chapters. The session started with an overview of the Duchess organization and the Duchess France. The French chapter, a dynamic group, recounted over its impressive list of activities: creation of women events around JUG monthly meetings, the co-organization of conferences, organization of Java certification classes and the creation of new groups in France. All this in just the last 9 months since their creation!

Participants were mostly women, with one-third men. Both men and women expressed their options freely. Some of the topics were: the prejudices of women in IT at the workplace, in some countries women have trouble to join the workforce after a long maternity leave, women lack assertiveness to promote themselves and the change of dynamics in diverse teams. 

Learn more:

Duchess
Duchess France
Oracle Women in Tech Program 

Julien Dubois's informative article, "Part 3: Making Jersey and JQuery Work Together", the third in a series, further explores the advantages of JQuery, a popular open-source JavaScript Library that provides many advanced and cross-browser functions that can enhance web applications.

From the article itself:

"We will connect the JQuery-enhanced Web page from the second article to the Jersey-based Representational State Transfer (REST) interface that we built in the first article. We will begin by introducing Ajax, which is now a very common technology, and then work on our ArticleEvaluator sample application in order to see how we can use Ajax to send and receive data between JQuery and Jersey. The result will be a working, JQuery-powered Web application that can make Ajax calls to our Java technology-based REST application.

Read the entire article here: http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/articles/java/jersey-jquery-177519.html.