Bay Area Software Symposium
October 13 - 15, 2006 - Newark, CA
Session Descriptions
Ron Bodkin - Chief Software Architect, Quantcast
AJAX Performance and Scalability
You know AJAX can improve Web application usability, but only if designed properly. How do you deploy and manage responsive rich client networked applications that scale? If you are using services from multiple sources, how can you identify bottlenecks?
Effective AOP
Aspect-Oriented Programming (AOP) allows better application architectures by centralizing scattered and tangled code for prolems like security, error handling, testing, policy enforcement and feature variations across a product line. The recent releases of Spring 2.0 and AspectJ 5 illustrate the maturing options for Java projects.
Scott Davis - Author of "Groovy Recipes"
Easing into Agile
How do you get started with an Agile development methodology? Everyone has been talking about eXtreme Programming for years, but how do you get it introduced to your team? Many times, you're not simply transitioning from from one methodology to another -- you're introducing a methodology for the first time. Adding structure to a previously unstructured endeavor. Adding a touch of discipline where programmers once roamed free.
Groovy: The Next Generation of Java
This is the year of the dynamic scripting language. Ruby (and Rails) has won the hearts and minds of many independent software developers. JavaScript is experiencing a renaissance thanks to the wild success of AJAX and websites like Google Maps. And Groovy (JSR-241) brings the same level of excitement and "scripting goodness" to the Java platform.
Guerrilla Web Techniques
Frameworks? We don't need no stinkin' web frameworks. OK, so maybe that's overstating the case. Web frameworks do plenty of good things, but sometimes they can also be golden handcuffs. Too many web developers fall into the trap of thinking, "If it can't be done by my web framework, then it simply can't be done."
Holistic Testing
Mark Twain once said, "Everyone talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it." Do you feel the same way about Unit Testing? Are you actively testing your code, or are you just thinking about testing your code... some day... once you get some more free time...
Real World Web Services
In this talk, we'll survey the web services exposed by leading websites (Google, Yahoo, Amazon, eBay) and discuss how they are driving the AJAX revolution. You'll see examples of RESTful, SOAP, and JSON web services, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of each.
Neal Ford - Application Architect at ThoughtWorks, Inc.
Clean Up Your Code: 10 Java Coding Tricks, Techniques, and Philosophies
This session delivers 10 techniques for improving your code, whether you are freshly graduated or a grizzled veteran.
Regular Expressions in Java
Regular expressions should be an integral part of every developer?s toolbox, but most don?t realize what an important topic it is. Regular expressions have existed for decades, but many developers don't understand how to take full advantage of this powerful mechanism, either through command line tools and editors or in their development.
SOA: Next Wave of Enterprise Development or Return of the Son of CORBA?
Is Service Oriented Architecture the next wave of distributed computing or just the same old crap in a shiny new package? This session provides an overview of what most people agree is the definition of SOA. I talk about SOA, ESB, CORBA, your MOM, and a bunch of other acronyms.
Testing with Selenium
This session describes the use and workings of Selenium, the open source web user interface testing tool.
The Productive Programmer
This session shows you how to become a more productive programmer every day by using tools that you didn't know you already had.
David Geary - Author of Graphic Java, co-author of Core JSF, member of the JSF Expert Group
Ajaxian Faces
JavaServer Faces is a perfect platform for implementing Web 2.0 interfaces with Ajax. This session explores how you can use these two potent technologies--JSF and Ajax--together to create applications that look and behave like desktop applications but run in the browser.
JSF: State of the Art
In 2005, JSF hit its stride, as evidenced from overwhelming support from both vendors and the open-source community. JSF 1.0 had plenty of holes, but open-source projects have arisen to address those needs. This session takes a look at three of those projects: Tomahawk (MyFaces component library) FaceletsSeam
JavaServer Faces: A Whirlwind Tour
In April 2005, annual growth rates for jobs in JavaServer Faces, Struts, and Ruby on Rails were all at about 0%. Today, Struts' growth rate still hovers around 0%, but JSF and Rails have taken off. At the end of 2007, both JSF and Rails were growing at a rate of between 400-500% annually (according to indeed.com).
JSF has passed the adoption tipping point, and is now the Java-based framework of choice, as is evidenced by its ecosystem. From vendors such as MyEclipse and RedHat to open source projects such as Seam, Facelets, and Ajax4JSF, JSF is where the action is.
Come see why JSF is so popular. In this code- and demo-intensive session, I'll show you the fundamentals of JSF.
Prerequisite: Some knowledge of Java-based web applications, such as Struts, is a plus, but is not required. If you have a significant experience with JSF, you probably already know most of what's covered in this session.
Shale: Turbo-charge your JSF Apps
JavaServer Faces is a well designed user interface framework, but it lacks a number of features you might otherwise expect out of the box; for example, JSF does not explicitly provide support for client-side validation.
So, from the folks that brought you Struts, comes Shale, a collection of useful enhancements to JSF. A top-level Apache Software Foundation project, Shale adds some really cool features to vanilla JSF, including:
Web flow: script dialog flow Remote Method Calls: easily call JavaBean methods from JavaScript Tapestry-like views: code views in pure HTML Use Apache Commons Validator validators on the client or server, or both JSF testing framework: mocks for easy JSF testing
There's a lot of cool stuff in Shale that makes JSF a much more compelling proposition. Come see what it's all about.
Justin Gehtland - Founder of Relevance, co-author of Better, Faster, Lighter Java
Ajax Architecture
Ajax applications have unique architectural challenges and opportunities. This presentation will show you how to take advantage of the Ajax's strengths, and work around its quirks.
JRuby
JRuby is not one, but two great technologies: the Ruby language, and the Java Virtual Machine and libraries. In this talk you will learn the basics of programming JRuby, and how to integrate JRuby code into existing Java projects.
JavaScript for Ajax Programmers
This presentation covers JavaScript from the perspective of an Ajax programmer. We assume that you may be using an Ajax toolkit, but still need to be able to read, modify, and test the JavaScript code in your application. You will learn the common idioms of JavaScript by looking at working code from the Ajax toolkits themselves.
Prototype: Ajax and JavaScript++
Learn to simplify Ajax development with Prototype through a series of real-world examples. Along the way, learn to code in Prototype's modern JavaScript style, taking advantage of Prototype's extensions to JavaScript's object model
Spring Dependency Injection
Dependency Injection (DI) is the cornerstone of Spring. The core concept is quite simple, but (surprise!) actual practice can become complex. To take full advantage of Spring DI, you need to understand not only the basics on configuration, but also the container lifecycle model and the various hooks provided by the framework.
Spring Intro
The Spring framework is one of the fastest growing open source frameworks. New job postings are gaining rapidly, and many customers are adopting Spring instead of heavier alternatives. In this session, we’ll introduce Spring. You’ll see how Spring can give you much of the power of EJB, without the complexity or pain.
Spring uses concepts like dependency injection and aspect oriented programming to ease standard enterprise development. Spring developers write plain, ordinary Java objects (POJOs), instead of sophisticated components. In this session, you’ll see a basic Spring application. You’ll also see some details about some of the enterprise integration strategies, including:
• Spring AOP • Transactions • Persistence • Model/view/controller
When the session is over, you won’t be an expert, but you should have a much clearer understanding of what Spring does, what it doesn’t do, and why it’s growing so rapidly.
Spring Security with ACEGI
Spring offers developers a simpler, more robust method for configuring applications. These benefits extend to security through the ACEGI framework. ACEGI makes the otherwise daunting task of securing your application logical and straightforward. More importantly, through its support for single sign-on provision through Yale's CAS system and its ability to provide instance-level authorization, Spring extends the common security model of most J2EE apps beyond what they are traditionally capable of.
Jason Hunter - Author of Java Servlet Programming
Extreme Web Caching
Web Caching is very important for high traffic, high performance web site but few people know all the professional-level strategies. In this talk I'll share some of the tricks of the trade, including advanced tips from Yahoo's Mike Radwin.
We'll start with the basics: using client-side caches, conditional get, and proxies. Then we'll talk about more advanced features: how best to handle personalized content, setting up an image caching server, using a cookie-free domain for static content, and using randomization in URLs for accurate hit metering or sensitive content.
Forgotten Algorithms
There are many interesting and useful algorithms that people just don't remember or never learned. The Boyer-Moore string search algorithm is one prime example. The randomized skip list is another. Both solve common problems with wonderful flair and finesse -- and performance-wise they blow the pants off brute force solutions. This session covers these two algorithms plus several others. It's like your college algorithms course but with a practical bent and absolutely zero proofs. Extra bonus: The Google PageRank algorithm.
Open Source from the Inside
Open source isn't about a license, it's about human interaction and individual motivation. I've seen open source from all sides. I've been an individual contributor and a project leader. I've worked on commercial and open source efforts, and have both helped commercial projects go open and designed ways for open projects to absorb commercial codebases. I've been on the front lines in the Apache/Sun negotiations on open source Java that ended on the JavaOne keynote stage with Scott McNealy. In this talk, I'd like to share my favorite stories in and around open source and the lessons they teach us.
Nick Lesiecki - Co-Author Mastering AspectJ and Java Tools for Extreme Programming
Enhance Design Patterns with AOP
Design patterns have long been part of the experienced developer's tool chest. However, design patterns can affect multiple classes and this makes them invasive and hard to (re)use. This presentation will discuss how AOP solves this problem by fundamentally transforming pattern implementation. The class will examine examples of various traditional design patterns (including some of the famous GoF patterns) and discuss the practical and design benefits of implementing them with aspect-oriented techniques. This session will be of interest to anyone who has struggled with design patterns. It is also the perfect session for a programmer interested non-trivial applications of AOP, or who wishes to see aspect-oriented design in action.
Ted Neward - Enterprise, Virtual Machine and Language Wonk
Java5: The Language, The Libraries, The VM
Java5 introduced a whole slew of new features, including annotations (JSR 175), new language features (the enhanced for loop, generics, static imports, and more), new library support (java.lang.instrument, among others), and some interesting enhancements to the virtual machine itself.
Busy Developer's Guide to db4o
Tired of writing object-table mappings? For years, Java developers have wrestled with the problems of storing objects into relational format and retrieving them back again; for all that Hibernate and JDO and other O/R tools make it easier (though not easy) to do, isn't there another way? In this presentation, we'll explore an alternative approach, real object persistence, using the db4o toolkit (www.db4objects.com).
Effective Enterprise Java: State Management
Managing state--both transient state (like your shopping cart) and your durable state (like your order placements, your inventory management forms, and so on)--is tricky in an enteprrise application. In this talk, we'll examine some of the trickiness, both high-level and low-.
Java6: Exploring Mustang
Mustang, the Java6 release, is out, and even if you're not looking to adopt the new platform right away, it's important to know what's there so you can start to plan for it. In this presentation, we'll go over the major new features of the Java6 platform, including the new integrated XML services capabilities (JAX-WS and JAXB), dynamic/scripting language support (javax.script), new JVM "attach" capabilities, new annotations supported by the javac compiler, and more.
Pragmatic XML Services
There's a lot of talk about web services, and most of it falls into one of two categories: lots of low-level talk about vendor-specific tools and extensions, or lots of high-level talk that never shows you a line of code. XML services aren't that hard, and in this talk, we'll see how, why and when to do one.
The Busy Java Developer's Guide to Annotations
Want to get the soup-to-nuts story on Java annotations? In this presentation, we'll first talk about what annotations provide to the Java language. After setting ourselves a conceptual basis to operate from, we'll look at the language definition for Java annotations, from how to use them to how to define them. Finally, we'll take a look at the other side of annotations, consuming them at source-level (using "apt", the annotation processing tool), class-level (using a bytecode toolkit such as BCEL), and at runtime (using enhancements to the Reflection API made in Java5).
Chris Richardson - Author of POJOs in Action
Comparing EJB 3 with Spring and Hibernate
The limitations of EJB2 led to the development of the extremely popular Spring and Hibernate frameworks. These frameworks replaced the cumbersome EJB2 programming model with a nimble, non-invasive Plain Old Java Object (POJO) –based model. But, now, the EJB3 specification has embraced many of the ideas made popular by Spring and Hibernate including POJOs, transparent persistence and dependency injection.
Developing Rich Domain Models
Object-oriented design (OOD) is good way to tackle the complexity of modern applications. Yet many complex, enterprise Java applications are written in a procedural style. One reason is because EJB2 created too many obstacles to using object-oriented design techniques. Fortunately, enterprise Java technologies have improved. Plain Object Java Objects (POJOs) and object/relational mapping frameworks such as Hibernate, JDO and EJB3 led to the revival of OOD.
Jared Richardson - Agile coach and co-author of Ship It
Agile Software Testing Strategies
Creating and maintaining a solid automated test suite is critical to an Agile strategy, but often we're just told to "Do it." In this talk we'll look at several pragmatic strategies for creating and building your suite.
Continuous Integration with Cruise Control
Continuous Integration is increasingly recognized as a vital practice in an Agile software shop. Traditionally it's been difficult to set up and administer. Today, that's no longer the case.
Pragmatic Tracer Bullets
Are your product designs hit or miss? Do you have trouble building a loosely coupled system? Is your code incestuous? Refactoring not an option with your code base? Tracer Bullets help keep your project out of the fire.
Tracer Bullet Development:
* helps you create great software
* lends itself to an iterative cycle
* can be used for demos early and often
* is easily refactored
* allows your teams to work in parallel
* makes a very testable system
Software Development Techniques
Throughout our software careers we learn habits from our coworkers, from books we've read, and occasionally, from conferences we attend. Much of our competence comes from the tips and tricks we pick up as we go.
Venkat Subramaniam - Founder of Agile Developer, Inc.
Get Groovier with Grails
Inspired by the Ruby on Rails project, Grails brings the ease of web development and "convention over configuration" to the Java platform. We will learn how to create web applications using Grails, how to integrate it with Hibernate, and how to Ajax it, all using the built in features of Grails. This section assumes that you are familiar with Groovy or you have attended the “Groovy for Java Programmers” session. The session will be example driven with live coding where we will build a web application from scratch.
Groovy for Java Programmers
Object-oriented scripting languages, or agile dynamic languages, as some like to call those, are gaining programmers' attention. Groovy bring this excitement to the Java platform with its ability to generate byte code. You can use Groovy instead of Java for some parts of your application. By learning it, you can switch between the languages where you consider fit.
Open Source Tools for Agile Development
As a Java developer, you have taken the time to learn the basics of the language and relevant parts of its rich API. However, you need more than that to develop serious industrial strength applications. In this presentation, the speaker will introduce you to a number of open source tools which you can use to improve your application quality and your development process.
Practices of an Agile Developer
You have worked on software projects with varying degree of success. What were the reasons for the success of your last project? What were the reasons for those that failed? A number of issues contribute to project success - some non-technical in nature. In this presentation the speaker will share with you practices in a number of areas including coding, developer attitude, debugging, and feedback. The discussions are based on the book with the same title as the talk.
Refactoring your code - a key step in agility
Refactoring is one of the core practices in Agile Software Development. Refactoring is based on some core principles that apply to more than writing good code. But, what's refactoring? Why should you do it? How do you go about doing that? What tools are available to successfully refactor your App?
Working with Rules Engines
Rule based programming allows us to develop applications using declarative rules. These can simplify development in applications where such rules based knowledge is used for decision making.
