Java EE 5 preview and NetBeans pack.
Sun has released a preview version of the Java EE 5 SDK, and on the same time an Enterprise Pack for NetBeans.
From what I can tell the Java EE 5 SDK is just a frozen version of the open source Glassfish appserver rebranded to “Sun Java System Application Server Platform Edition 9″ which includes features such as EJB3, JSF 1.2, JAXB 2.0, Java Persistance, JSTL 1.2, Streaming API (StAX), Webservice Metadata.
The SDK is still branded beta, since the spec hasn’t reached final yet.
At the same time Enterprise Pack for NetBeans has been released, and includes some new features such as support for the above SDK, UML and Visual Design Tools for SOA Architects (whatever that is) and the appserver bundled.
Eclipse 3.2M5
A couple of days ago the M5 release of Eclipse 3.2 were released, when reading the “New and Noteworthy” of the release I noticed some really nice and missed features. Among the news are.
- Refactoring scripts – Nice feature, could be really helpful.
- Java SE 6 (Mustang) support – (Hard to test on my Powerbook though.. )
- SWT goodies
- Introduce Indirection Refactoring added
- Problem View – Fix multiple problems/errors on the same time (looks promising)
- Improved CVS/Team – Nice improvements also shows local changes
- Cleanup Wizard – added support for Remove unnecessary blocks/casts, Add serial version id to ‘Serializable’ and ‘Externalizable’ classes
- Multiple quick-fix – Fix similar errors/problems in the same file
- Quickfix “Generify” – Add type-information to lists/collections
- Junit view – History, nice feature to retain a history of tests.
- Command line code formatter – Nice utility to format code without using the IDE.
I have only glanced at the new improvements/features, but it sure seems nice.. I will try to use the M5 for a while now and see how it goes.
JUnit 4.0
Finaly the point-release of JUnit have been released, this release requires JDK5.0 since it uses annotations to mark tests. Guess I have to take it out for a spin this weekend.
Kodo going Open Source??
In a interview over at BEA Dev2Dev, BEA Senior Directory Neelan Choksi effectively breaks the news that BEA will open-source its KODO EJB persistence product as “Open JPA”.
Going to JavaOne..
I just registered for this years JavaOne, should be a nice experience as usual.
Java SE 6 goes to official beta
Java Standard Edition 6 (a.k.a Mustang/) is now officially a beta, downloadable from sun.
Highlights include
New Security features and enhancements:
- Native platform GSS/Kerberos integration
- Java Authentication and Authorization Service (JAAS) login module that employs LDAP authentication
- New Smart Card I/O API
Integrated Web Services:
- New API for XML digital signature services for secure web services
- New Client and Core Java Architecture for XML-Web Services (JAX-WS) 2.0 APIs
- New support for Java Architecture for XML Binding (JAXB) 2.0
Enhanced Management & Serviceability:
- Improved JMX Monitoring API
- Runtime Support for dTrace (Solaris 10 and future Solaris OS releases only)
- New custom deployment facilities
Increased Developer Productivity:
- Improved memory usage analysis and leak detection
- Significant library improvements
- Improvements to the Java Platform Debug Architecture (JPDA) & JVM Tool Interface
Improved User Experience:
- Look and feel updates to better match underlying platforms
- Improved desktop performance and integration
- Enhanced internationalization support
MANIFEST.MF Classpath from ANT
Although unsupported, it is possible to create dependencies in MANIFEST.MF files in the format
Class-Path: lib/hibernate3.jar lib/log4j.jar
On the gig i currently work in we have all our 3rd party libs (jar-files) in a structure like this lib/hibernate-3.0.5. To generate the manifest by hand is not optimal, so we would like ANT to generate the manifest automatically. We use ant 1.6.2, and I believe a 1.6 should be a minimum to use this hack
This is how we solved the problem
- First of, define the properties
- Next of, modify you jar-making target. This is were the “hack” is, we store all the depenncies in a temp variable (dep.libs)<pathconvert property=”dep.libs” pathsep=” “>
<mapper>
<chainedmapper>
<!– remove the full path –>
<flattenmapper />
<!– prefix every .jar with lib/ –>
<globmapper from=”*” to=”lib/*” />
</chainedmapper>
</mapper><path>
<fileset dir=”${lib.dir}”>
<include name=”**/*.jar” />
</fileset>
</path>
</pathconvert><!– create the actual jar –>
<jar jarfile=”${build.dir}/myjar.jar” basedir=”${build.dir}/classes”>
<manifest>
<!– other manifest details goes here –>
<!– insert our formated libs –>
<attribute name=”Class-Path” value=”${dep.libs}” />
</manifest>
</jar>
</target>
NetBeans IDE 5.0 Final Released
NetBeans.org has finally released NetBeans IDE 5.0 Final. The link is to the announcement on Javalobby. If you are using NetBeans 4.1, you need to upgrade now. The difference is just incredible. Eclipse and IntelliJ IDEA now have some serious competition to worry about and Matisse puts them all to shame. Peronaly im not a dedicated Netbeans user, but this might just make me take a closer look.
Play WMV in Quicktime
Flip4Mac has a really nice extension for those of you that are running OSX, and don’t want to use Microsofts now ancient Windows Media Player for OSX.
The product is free, and it seems to work like a charm (Microsoft even links to the plug-in from their Media Player for OSX download page).
Interesting opinions on Spring
Bob posted an interesting article about Spring, a good post showing not only the good things about Spring but also the less beautiful sides. A recommended reading if you missed the Spring hype.
Edit: There is a good amount of blog taking Spring into defence, Dion’s post seems like the most reasonable one.