Marina Sum's Blog

Marina Sum is a staff writer for Sun Developer Network. She has been writing for Sun since 1989, mostly in the technical arena.

New 2008-2009 Schedule for Sun Tech Days

Sun Tech Days are a free developer conference that's held worldwide with technical sessions and hands-on labs on the Java language, scripting, MySQL, the NetBeans IDE, OpenSolaris, and other topics. A new schedule for 2008-2009 is now available, starting in Sao Paulo, Brazil between September 29-October 1 and moving on to 12 other cities, including Seoul, Taipei, Guangzhou, Tokyo, Singapore, Hyderabad, London, and others. Registration for Tech Days San Paulo is now open.

Do check out the schedule and be prepared to sign up for a conference in a city near you.

Why OpenSolaris is an Ideal Development Platform

A video presentation by Sun's Roman Shaposhnik at the June 25 OpenSolaris Developer Conference in Prague is worth a look. The talk focuses on the reasons why it makes sense to develop applications on the OpenSolaris platform with Sun Studio as a tool of choice.

The video also features a talk by Adriaan De Groot, who discusses the nuances of building the KDE Project in C++ with Sun Studio on OpenSolaris. In addition, Dennis Chemoivanov from Tocarema AB is at the podium with a pitch of a commercial style of developing with OpenSolaris. Interesting insights!

How to Integrate Applications With OpenSSO

A new SDN article, Integrating Applications With OpenSSO, starts by describing the architecture of OpenSSO's secure login process, followed by the four ways in which to manage applications' Web access. The four ways are the Policy Agent, a reverse proxy, the client SDK, and identity services. Even though identity services require extra programming, you save cycles since no other components (Policy Agent and so forth) are involved.

The article then explains the three basic tasks required for setting up authentication with identity services. A demo of the steps follows, complete with code segments in a Ruby on Rails sample application.

Observations on OpenSolaris by a Linux Administrator

Earlier, Lee Bieber—an engineering manager-cum-friend I worked with at Sun before and who just rejoined the company (yay!)—pointed me to a Slashdot posting:

OpenSolaris from a Linux Admin Perspective

It refers to a recent Linux Format article that highlights the observations from Juliet Kemp, who "takes OpenSolaris for a test drive." Included are her assessments of the installation process and operations of the OS and an answer to "Why bother?", complete with screen shots.

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Sun Software Architect on OpenSSO's Identity Services

In Part 6 of a Sun Developer Network interview series, From the Trenches at Sun Identity, software architect Aravindan Ranganathan first explains why developers have been asking for "APIs for calling into [Sun Java System] Access Manager." That's a key access management and federation product from Sun, available in open source as OpenSSO.

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OpenSolaris News: July 2008

Sun's Tim Foster has posted an informative list of news items on OpenSolaris for July 2008. Included are a project proposal for support of the Sierra-Intel WiFi chipsets, presentation slides from the OpenSolaris Developer Conference 2008, the start of the Integrated Load Balancer project, and so forth.

Thanks to Tim for all the updates. Please keep them up!

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A Fun Game Not To Be Missed

As you watch the exciting Summer 2008 Games in Beijing, do check out a related cool, fun-filled Facebook game called myPicks Beijing 2008. The game enables players to predict Gold, Silver, and Bronze medal winners throughout the Summer 2008 Games. If a player predicts correctly, points are added to that person's home-country score. Ultimately, the country with the highest point total at the conclusion of the Summer 2008 Games wins.

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Sun Java System Web Server Will Be Open Source Soon

Wonderful news! Sun has announced that, as part of the Web Stack subproject of the OpenSolaris OS, the core components of Sun Java System Web Server 7.0 and Sun Java System Web Proxy Server will be available in open source in the third quarter. Currently, Sun Java System Web Server is free for download.

In a recent posting, Sun engineer Siriam Natarajan talks about the history of Sun Java System Web Server, including its impressive performance records. His enthusiasm is catching. Splendid job!

New to Java Programming Center for Young Developers

Beginners in Java programming, do visit the New to Java Programming Center for Young Developers. The hub suggests a learning path and offers tutorials and other resources not only to audiences with no or little programming experience, but also to those geared for more advanced techniques. Included are pointers to intuitive tools like Greenfoot, BlueJ, Scratch, and Alice.org—all fun to check out!

Also, click the Educators tab to browse a host of resources for teachers, including a community wiki.

OpenDS As a Naming Service for OpenSolaris OS, Part 2

Following up on Part 1 of an article series on how to set up OpenDS as a naming service for the OpenSolaris OS, Mazen Arakji, Ludo Poitou, and I just published Part 2 on Sun Development Network. The steps are simple and self-explanatory: Part 2 calls for a few command lines and a couple of procedures that configure clients, after which you're done.

In addition, Part 2 clues you in on the steps for enhancing performance and updating Java settings. All handy tips, we hope.

A Collection of Code Samples From Sun

Be sure to check out this handy reference: the Code Samples wiki from Sun. The many segments are divided by category (Java SE, SE, ME, and FX platforms, scripting languages, and so forth) and then by topic (language syntax, math operations, multimedia, and so forth).

And do share your code by adding to the collection! Wikis are superior for enabling exchanges.

Achieving Single Sign-On and Logout With OpenSSO's Identity Services

In a new article on SDN, Securing Applications With Identity Services, Part 4: Single Sign-On and Logout, you learn how to take advantage of the REST operations supported by OpenSSO to achieve single-sign-on and logout. Hosted with the article is a simple application as an example. The setup procedures offer code segments that demonstrate how to build a JSP page after creating a Web application project, how to add a servlet to the project, and so forth: 11 procedures in total, all intuitive and straightforward.

This series has elicited gratifying, positive feedback from readers and will offer more parts on other related topics soon. I've truly enjoyed collaborating with the technical coauthors and look forward to continuing to do so on the future segments.

OpenDS Standard Edition (SE) 1.0 Ships

Today, Sun releases OpenDS Standard Edition (SE) 1.0, the supported version of an open-source, LDAP directory server. The benefits are many: easy, fast installation; interactive command-line interface; high performance; interoperability. Sun senior product line manager Daniel Raskin adds that OpenDS 1.0.0, the recently released community version, is "an embedded configuration store and user store" in OpenSSO, Sun's open Web access management project.

I also enjoyed reading yesterday's posting by OpenDS community leader, Ludo Poitou, on the accomplishments of OpenDS to date. As he points out, you can participate in the project and network with like-minded users and developers in many ways.

Support for OpenSSO From Sun

In a previous posting, I highlighted Sun Access Manager 8, the upcoming merged product of Sun Java System Access Manager and Sun Java System Federated Manager. The new product will enjoy commercial support and indemnification from Sun. In a recent interview with me, Sun senior product manager Nick Wooler talks about the background, the support model, and the benefits.

In particular, note the three types of builds and the support from Sun for both the stable builds and commercial builds. That means development with the latest features can start early on with assurance of support. Talk about win-wins! For more details, see the official announcement.

Finalists for SourceForge.net's 2008 Community Choice Awards

The list of finalists for SourceForge.net's 2008 Community Choice Awards is worth a look. I was impressed by the page design, which highlights the categories, project names, and their URLs "above the fold," so to speak. According to the CCA home page, the winners will be announced later this week during OSCON 2008, of which Sun is a platinum sponsor.

OpenOffice.org is a finalist in three categories: Best Project, Most Likely to Change the World, and Most Likely to Be Ambiguously Accused of Patent Violation, with the last one a dubious honor, obviously. See an InfoWorld article, Test Center Review: Office Killers Pack Some Heat, which states that OpenOffice.org "is entirely capable of being the primary, or only, personal productivity suite used by an organization." High praise!

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OpenDS As a Naming Service for OpenSolaris OS

OpenDS, an open-source, LDAP directory server that shipped its 1.0.0 release late last week, serves well as a naming service for the OpenSolaris OS. Read Part 1 of a new SDN series for the basic steps: generating and exporting a self-signed certificate, running OpenDS as nonroot, installing OpenDS, defining schemes, and creating and populating the Directory Information Tree.

Update on 8/7/08: Part 2 is now live, completing the two-part series.

A Perspective on Interface Designs

Reading ComputerWeekly.com's recent article, The Secret to Designing User-Friendly Interfaces for Desktop Software, reminds me of the thoughts from Sun senior interaction designer Frank Ludolph early this year. Without a doubt, UI design is an important aspect of software development and often a key determinant of a product's success.

Donald Norman, the design expert interviewed in the ComputerWeekly.com article, says it well, "It's all about people. I find the most important thing is the emotional state of the people when they are finished." Don't those words remind you of some of your own reactions after using a product?

OpenDS, an Open-Source LDAP Directory Service, Ships Release 1.0.0

Trumpets! As highlighted in today's Java Today, OpenDS, an open-source LDAP directory service written in the Java language, has released its version 1.0.0. Among the key capabilities are—

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New Python Developer Center on Sun Developer Network

As defined on Sun Developer Network's new Python Developer Center, Python is a dynamic, object-oriented, multipurpose, and multiplatform programming language. The PDC also covers Jython, Django, and TurboGears, and points you to downloads and community postings, news, and events.

Have a look.

Sun Net Talk on Access Management and Federation

A recent Sun Net Talk vodcast by Sun senior product line manager Daniel Raskin addresses the aspects of authentication, authorization, administration, and personalization in access management and federation.

The vodcast starts with a description of the problems enterprises face today in resources, federated partnerships, implementation schedules, secure Web services, and scalability. Raskin then elaborates on Sun's standards-based solutions, available in several modules. One of them is Sun Java System Access Manager, a twin of OpenSSO, an open-source project whose ever-growing community now boasts over 700 members.

A June posting by Sun identity architect Pat Patterson has details on how to participate in OpenSSO.

Installing Sun Java System Web Server 7.0 on the OpenSolaris OS

Installing Sun Java System Web Server 7.0, which is bundled with the Java 5 SE Platform, on OpenSolaris 2008.05 results in an error. However, because Web Server also supports the Java 6 SE Platform, you can, with a few simple steps, enable Web Server to adopt that platform on the OpenSolaris OS, hence a successful installation.

For details, see this technical tip on Sun's BigAdmin portal.

BBC World News Picks Best Cloud Applications

Cloud computing generally means accessing resources that are owned and run by third parties in consolidated groups in data centers. BBC World News has published its pick of best cloud applications and services: Sun's network.com, Apple Mobile Me, Google Docs, and others. Many familiar names there. Concise and enlightening introductions, too!

OpenSSO Resource Center

Have a look at the newly launched OpenSSO Resource Center, which brings you at a glance reference material on OpenSSO, Sun's open-source project for access management, federation, and secure Web services. Collected are documentation, FAQs, articles, support information, product demos, and so forth.

As Sun identity architect Pat Patterson said at the OpenSSO session at CommunityOne in May, "There's no secret sauce here." The project's development is truly open and transparent to the community; this resource center is a testament.

Network World: "The Unsung Fathers of Technology"

See a recent slide show on Network World with the pictures, along with a brief introduction, of ten "inventor[s], originator[s,] or driving force behind a new product or technology." Among them is Sun's James Gosling, Father of Java technology.

The others are all interesting to read about: Father of the mobile phone, Father of the mouse, Father of telecommuting, and so forth.

More Q&As on Sun Java System Access Manager

Check out the ninth segment of the FAQ for Sun Java System Access Manager on Sun Developer Network. These latest Q&As focus on performance and policy, session failover, deployment, and agents, with tips and guidelines for configurations and best practices.

Here are a few examples:

• When should I recompile: before or after starting the Web server?
• How do I protect a resource with a policy that contains two authentication schemes?
• What is the difference between deployment of session failover and deployment of multiple Access Manager servers?

Stay tuned for more segments. Coming up soon!

More Details on Fedlets

Fedlets, a key new feature in the upcoming Sun Federated Access Manager, twin of OpenSSO, are, to paraphrase Sun identity architect Pat Patterson, lightweight packages created by identity providers to efficiently federation-enable small service providers. By way of explaining the nuances, Sun product manager Sidharth Mishra has spotlighted the following:

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Part 2 of FAQ on Sun Java System Access Manager Support for SAML

SDN just published Part 2 of an FAQ on the nuances of working with Sun Java System Access Manager, a twin of OpenSSO, in support of Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) 1.x and 2.x. You learn, for example, how to enable basic authentication and how to configure Authentication Context mappers.

In the works are Q&As on performance and sizing, policy, agents, installation and configuration, logging, and other topics. Stay tuned please.

September 2008

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Recent Entries

New 2008-2009 Schedule for Sun Tech Days

Why OpenSolaris is an Ideal Development Platform

How to Integrate Applications With OpenSSO

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