Java Latest Updates: Sun-IBM merge roundup

JAVAWORLD'S ENTERPRISE JAVA ALERT
Solutions for Java developers
03/19/09

By Dustin Marx

While an acquisition of Sun would most likely lead to subtle
changes in the general Java programming language and platform
direction, the effect could be much more pronounced and obvious
for specific parts of Java and for specific Java-related
products. Three products that would be of particular interest to
me in such a scenario are NetBeans, GlassFish, and JavaFX. I am
also curious about what effect this would have on Java SE 7.

There are several things I really like about the NetBeans IDE,
including its JavaScript and Ruby support, its integration with
GlassFish, and its Swing GUI Builder. I also appreciate having
another open source and freely available choice for a Java IDE.
Given IBM's significant role in bringing about the Eclipse IDE
and the sometimes bitter history between Eclipse and NetBeans,
one has to wonder what the short-term and long-term fate of
NetBeans would be if IBM acquired Sun. While NetBeans is an open
source project, it it still heavily influenced and developer by
Sun employees. This means that while the NetBeans project might
live on, it would be much more difficult for it to continue to
thrive and improve as quickly as it has in recent years without
the same financial support ...

Read more and discuss: The future of Java tools if IBM rules
Java http://www.javaworld.com/community/node/2635

1. IBM-Sun rumors roundup: NYT to Sun Blogs
http://www.javaworld.com/community/node/2637

2. IBM-Sun deal won't be about software
http://www.networkworld.com/nljavaworldsente187745

3. Would Sun's cloud and virtualization plans still fly with IBM?
http://www.networkworld.com/nljavaworldsente187746

By Klaus P. Berg

When you talk about software quality, you need to consider both
functional and non-functional aspects as defined, for example,
in the ISO 9126 standard. These quality attributes
(maintainability, portability, and so on) can be measured in two
ways:

1. Using internal metrics, as covered byISO 9126 Part 3, Internal
Quality. This is typically done by static testing and analysis.

2. Using external metrics, as covered byISO 9126 Part 2, External
Quality. This is typically done by dynamic testing.

Aninternal metric(the focus of this article) is a quantitative
method that can be used for measuring an attribute or
characteristic of a software product, derived either directly or
indirectly from the product itself. (It is not derived from
measures of the behavior of the system -- that is, from a test
execution.) Internal metrics are applicable to nonexecutable
software products during design and coding in early stages of
the development process.

A question that might now occur is, What do you know about the
internal quality of your unit tests? Probably not as much as you
know about the quality of your production code. Of course, agile
software development processes like extreme programming or Scrum
emphasize code-unit testing (preferably before it's written,
thanks to test-driven development, or TDD) and thorough testing
of software functionality as well as code refactoring steps.
However, internal code quality assurance activities for the most
part only address production code. It's time to boost the
quality of your test code to the same level as the quality of
your production code ...

Read more: Writing good unit tests, Part 1: Show your GUTs
http://www.networkworld.com/nljavaworldsente187286

1. Is unit testing doomed?
http://www.networkworld.com/nljavaworldsente155565

2. Best practices for test-driven development
http://www.javaworld.com/javaworld/jw-05-2004/jw-0510-tdd.html

3. Automated code reviews with Checkstyle
http://www.networkworld.com/nljavaworldsente171875

Also featured this week

Democracy in the JCP
http://www.networkworld.com/nljavaworldsente187287
The Java Community Process is frequently under fire from
community members who have called for greater transparency and
even independence from Sun. Some say the real problem with the
JCP is too little leadership, however, and that Sun cannot
afford to loosen its grip on the Java standards body. Jon
Brodkin investigates the contentious democracy of the JCP,
including the Sun-Apache dispute over Project Harmony and
differing views from JCP members Gavin King, Sacha Labourey,
Peter Kriens, and Jeet Kaul.

People are talking in JW Blogs ... Apache Harmony and Sun
http://www.javaworld.com/community/?q=node/2601

-I think you're not seeing a bigger stink because the big stink
has happened, all involved understand the relative lines
involved and there's not much in the way of news ..

-Android is largely unproven and so is Harmony. If they fail,
then Sun won't be taken down with them. Yet if they succeed,
Sun's JavaME and JavaFX could be made to work on Android. And
JavaFX could run on Harmony ..

-The ASF has been trying to get the TCK since August 2006. I'll
leave you to draw your own conclusions as to whether Sun will
ever grant the TCK, or whether Harmony would have been certified
by now if the TCK had been granted back then ...

Listen up - JW podcasts! Patrick Curran on democratizing the JCP
http://www.networkworld.com/nljavaworldsente186082

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Thursday, March 19, 2009

Sun-IBM merge roundup

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