Java

You’ve heard it said that “all things old are new again.” That statement can certainly be applied to the current Cloud hype. But each time the old becomes new it gets a bit better because of what was learned the last time around. If we look back ten years at enterprise application development in Java things were quite different than they are today. EJB was “the way” to build scalable systems from a vast abundance of components. But things didn’t work out as well as the vendors planned.

In a few weeks I’ll be speaking in Atlanta at DevNexus and at the Atlanta Flex User Group. On March 21, 2011 at DevNexus I have two sessions:

• AS34J - ActionScript for Java Developers
• Rapid Mobile & Tablet App Development with Spring and Flex

On March 22, 2011 at the Atlanta Flex User Group I will be presenting about Flex 4.5 - The Non-Mobile New Features.

I hope to see you at DevNexus and at the Atlanta Flex User Group!

Flex and Java have always fit together very nicely. Connecting from Flex to a Java back-end is pretty straightforward whether you are using plain old Java beans, Spring beans, or EJB session beans. I’ve created a video and some sample code that shows you how to connect Flex to a Java EE system using BlazeDS. This video walks though a real-time collaborative Whiteboard application that runs in the browser, on the desktop, and on mobile devices. Check out the video and let me know what you think.

On February 15, 2011 I’ll be presenting at the Detroit Java User Group about Building Cross-Device Apps with Flex and Spring. If you live in the Detroit area then I hope to see you there! If not, then talk to your local Java User Group leader about having me come and speak.

Here is the abstract for the talk:

Today, users want apps in the browser, on their desktop, phone, tablet, and TV. Reusing code across all of these devices is now crucial for developers. By combining Flex for the UI with Spring and Hibernate for the back-end, developers can build apps that work on a variety of devices including PCs, Android phones / tablets, the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet, iPhones, and iPads. This session will walk developers through the steps for creating these cross-device apps with Flex and Java.

Next week at JavaOne 2010 I’ll be co-presenting two sessions! On Monday Jeremy Grelle and I will present “End-to-End Richness: Integrating Java EE Services to Create Engaging RIAs” at the Hilton San Francisco. Here is the session information:

Session ID: S313939

Abstract: Flex is one of the most widely used tools for building RIAs. But how do you efficiently connect applications to diverse back-end services built on Java EE? The Spring BlazeDS Integration project has emerged as an effective solution for building a lightweight connective tissue for exposing rich Java EE services to a Flex client from any Java Servlet container. Aimed at experienced Java developers who want to make maximum use of their knowledge of Spring and Java EE to build a compelling integrated experience, this session covers:

Jon Rose and I have created a new DZone Refcard called Flex 4 and Spring 3 Integration. In the Refcard, we walk you through the steps for building RIAs with Flash Builder 4, Flex 4, BlazeDS 4, Spring 3, the Spring BlazeDS Integration, and Hibernate. Whew! That’s a lot of pieces! The Refcard covers simple Remoting, Flex & Hibernate integration through Spring (all Java annotation driven and using the new data-centric development features in Flash Builder 4), Pub / Sub Messaging, and Flex and Spring Security. We pack a lot into six pages!

Last week I did an eSeminar on AS34J - ActionScript 3 for Java Developers. This was originally a presentation that Chet Haase and I did at Devoxx. Later Chet also published the presentation as a two part article on JavaWorld (Part 1 and Part 2). Check out the eSeminar and let me know what you think.

In Java it has become a standard practice to use a getter & setter notation to provide a consistent interface to an object’s properties. There is a reason why we don’t do the following in Java:

public String fullName;

The code above essentially creates an interface (or contract) between the class and the implementors of this class that does not allow us to change the underlying implementation of what gets returned when the fullName property is accessed on an instance of the class. So if someone has Java code that accesses the fullName property:

Tomorrow night I’ll be in Austin, Texas speaking at the Java User Group about Better Software with Java and Flex (Try the Google Cache Page in case the site is not working). And then next week I’ll be at Stir Trek in Columbus, Ohio presenting about Flex and the Cloud. I hope to see some of you at these events!

I’ll be attending and presenting at a number of great events over the next few weeks:

• February 26 Flash Camp Chicago
• March 8 - 9 Devnexus in Atlanta
• March 10 Flex in the Cloud in Atlanta
• March 16 - 19 Java Posse Roundup in Crested Butte, Colorado
• March 17 - 19 The Server Side Java Symposium in Las Vegas

I hope to see you at these events!