JavaOne 2012 Announcements And Surprises

  1. NetBeans 7.3+ comes with HTML 5, JavaScript, CSS 3 support. JavaScript debugging, node selection (like in FireBug / Safari's inspector), GIT support, code formatting and code completion and even a Chrome browser plugin. [screencast] I tested NetBeans 7.3 and I'm using it in favor of Coda 2, bbedit, textmate and Espresso. My personal killer features: GIT integration, formatting, code completion and seamless import of existing HTML projects.
  2. I got lots of Java FX related questions after the session. Many attendees already used Java FX in production and had project specific questions about structuring, architecture and deployment. I like Java FX, but its popularity really surprised me.
  3. Node.jar: Some ideas around Nashorn, Grizzly and Java EE were presented. The ideas were demoed with working code. The node.jar project is internal right now, but could be open sourced soon. After some discussion with Oracle engineers, I kept thinking about the synergy of all the technologies. It could result in node.js on steroids: node.js syntax with the simplicity and power of Java EE 6/7.
  4. Project Avatar: in a code-centric session, the avatar syntax and internal implementation were presented. Avatar is end-to-end JavaScript framework. The presentation comprises a pre-processor with similar syntax to facelets (I would use just facelets) and can use jQuery, dojo or other toolkits. The backend can be implemented either with JavaScript, or Java EE. Real time communication is realized with Server Sent Events (SSE).
  5. Lots of excellent sessions, with great technical content, were delivered by Oracle Engineers without even slightest product pitches. I attended a few sessions delivered by IBM engineers--were great as well. I recognized, that most of the sessions are delivered by Oracle after my enrollment. For the selection I only looked at the description and title and not the speakers.
  6. James Gosling appeared at the community keynote and presented his Liquid Robots. Towards the end James Gosling threw some t-shirts in an old JavaOne tradition.
  7. twitter goes still strong with Java, Scala and Clojure. It seems like twitter is based entirely on Java now.
  8. Sunday's Keynotes are a great invention: there was a significantly more room for sessions.

From the content perspective this JavaOne was one of the best.Because I continuously found an even more interesting session, I spent a whole day with the schedule builder. …and at the end I still missed some great sessions...

My continuous criticism is: back to moscone :-). Also I'm concerned about the rule that no more than 40% of all sessions can be delivered by Oracle engineers. I would say: only the content and session evaluations should be used for session selection and not an artificial ratio. However: I really appreciate Oracle's effort to involve community wherever possible.

Comments:

Hi, Adam. Great summary. What is the relationship between Nashorn and Project Avatar, if any? When project Avatar is going to be released?

Posted by Alex on October 08, 2012 at 04:18 PM CEST #

@Alex,

Disclaimer: I'm not an Oracle employee (never was).

Relation:

1. NetBeans Easel is a good tool for Avatar, and NetBeans uses Nashorn in the editor.
2. Avatar's JavaScript backend is meant to be ran on Nashorn.
3. There is no statement about project Avatar's release date. It could also end as a commercial project (what would probably end in a "dead arrival")

Thanks for your interests!,

adam

Posted by Adam Bien on October 09, 2012 at 12:47 PM CEST #

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