Chet Haase's Blog

December 2004 Archives

Yes, Virginia, There is a JavaOne Call For Papers

It's true, it's true, it's finally here: the 2005 JavaOne Call For Papers.

So now the big question is: what do we want to do with it?

Here are 3 ideas to get you started, no matter who you are:

• Submit!: Got a great idea for a talk? Some nifty technology you'd like to describe in detail? Itching for the worldwide fame and fortune that speaking at JavaOne is sure to bring? Then bring it on! Submit your paper at the CFP site above.
• Brainstorm: Generate ideas for things you would like to see at the conference. What topics or speakers would be so compelling that you would have to attend and bring all your friends and children and pets? What technology areas do you feel need more coverage? Which ones need less?
• Request: Is there anything in particular that you'd like to see us Sun geeks cover in-depth? Do you like the typical talks we give on things like performance, in-depth Swing details, or the latest feature descriptions for the release du jour? Let us know to make sure we drum up appropriate talk submissions ourselves.

So put those thinking caps on Real Tight and let us know what you'd like to see at the conference. Our maini goal is to have content there that would make people want to come to the conference. Understanding what people want to see is critical to crafting the set of talks we end up with.

So how do we get this feedback loop going?

Great Question! I'm so glad you asked! Head on over to java.net and join the Planning JavaOne 2005 forum and discuss your ideas with the community.

Miscellaneous Stuff n Things

Think of this blog as an IV drip for my blog; I have to come back occasionally and check on the patient to see how he's doing, and administer the right drugs to make sure the heartbeat monitor still goes "Ping!" at the proper rate.

I am still intent on writing various articles, and actually have several in the works (or at least in the attic of my mind), but time to devote to the articles comes and goes, so my production rate is somewhat erratic.

But since there hasn't been a real blog posting for a while, I thought I'd better post something small just to let the little blog know that I'm thinking of him, even if I'm spending my quality time on other things.

Here's some miscellaneous items, all of which probably deserve longer and more substantial postings. So pretend, if you will, that each of these blurbs is actually a full-blown article, deep, engaging, thought-provoking, controversial, and fully satisfying, but ultimately forgettable, and all you are left with is the summaries below. This deception on our collaborative parts will allow me to actually post these things now instead of waiting for a time when I could actually write the full-blown articles they deserve....

1) NetBeans Release Day Cometh!

The 2nd Release Candidate of this free IDE is now available, with the full release version coming soon to a URL near you (such as http://netbeans.org).

The team and community have put major efforts into this release, completely reimplementing vast portions of the tool and interface. So if you used NetBeans in prior incarnations, it's worth checking out the latest version because it's a whole new tool. Some of the highlights that make this worth the download and investigation include:

• It's free!
• It's faster than before (both in startup and runtime)
• It's free!
• It's got a much better native look and feel than previous versions.
• It's free!
• No more "mounting" of projects; this rather obtuse mechanism for creating and using projects is history. Now you just load files and projects the way you would expect from any application or tool.
• It's free!

So check it out and let the team know how it works for you. Or better yet, join the project and help make it even better!

2) Timing is Everything

In response to several requests for an article on timing, I have something nice in the works. I'm working on some general timing utilities that enhance what the Timer classes currently offer, but also show how to use the existing Timer classes effectively. I see these utilities as a stepping stone toward even more functionality and APIs that should make timing and animation easier and more powerful in the future.

Stay tuned for this first installment. I hope to finish it up before the holidays (of course, I also hoped to finish it 3 weeks ago, but have since completely revamed the utilities and need to rewrite the article). I'm not sure where it will be published yet, but I'll certainly link to it from my blog, so watch this space...

3) JavaOne

Yes, we're behind on the Call For Papers. But there's a hard deadline that won't shift (the actual conference dates: June 27-30th of 2005: you know you have to reserve places like Moscone for years, sometimes even 5-10 years in advance?). So the Call For Papers will definitely happen soon (current plan is in the next 2 weeks), and things will get rolling quickly after that. Got any bright ideas for papers? Or topics you would like to see covered? Post a comment, or better yet, submit a paper to the Call for Papers (http://java.sun.com/javaone).

4) Effects

Another topic kicking around in my mind is Swing/2D effects for rich clients. I'd like to get some time to jot down some of these ideas. There's various items here such as animated transitions (something we've demonstrated before, but could probably do a better job of showing how to actually do it).

That's it for now: just had to get this stuff out there to get it out of my attic and onto the front lawn, where hopefully I will have a chance to sort through it all before the sprinklers come on.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.