Richard Monson-Haefel's Blog

May 2004 Archives

How Tomcat Works, the book.

A few months back, maybe a year ago, I was contacted by Budi Kurniawan. Budi wanted advice on self publishing - I don't even remember what I told him, but he says it was helpful so there you are. Last week Budi contacted me to tell me he has successfully written and self published his first book, How Tomcat Works. You can buy it directly from Budi and get a 45% discount (www.brainysoftware.com) or from Amazon.com. How cool is that!?

Well, I've been reading Budi's book and I have to say that it's really excellent. I mean, I can't put the thing down! His writing style is really straight forward and engaging. The book is in need of some serious copy editing, that's for sure, but in many cases those little rough spots add to its home-grown charm.

Budi's book, How Tomcat Works teaches the reader exactly how the Apache Tomcat Servlet engine works. Budi starts with a very simple (3 classes) web server and slowly, over the course of a dozen chapters, enhances that example until it becomes Tomcat. It's a really cool approach to explaining the inner workings of a system and I just love it. I'm staying up way too late reading the thing and learning a lot about how Tomcat works.

You don't have to be rocket scientist to appreciate the book or understand it. If you have intermediate to advanced Java skills and know something about Servlets, you'll have no problem at all and you will learn a lot.

I hope the book continues to be as good as the first couple of chapters. If it is, I'll probably become its biggest booster. In my opinion, knowing how the software you use works under the covers is far more important than anything else you can learn. Patterns and APIs are fine, but nothing beats knowing how things really work. The best in the business have this type knowledge, so if you want to be the best at Servlet development, than this book is for you.

My Apology to Bruce Tate

While I've had a great time and made many new friends on the speaking circuit, I own an apology to Bruce Tate, the author of Bitter Java and Bitter EJB. You see, at each of these NFJS symposiums we have a couple of panel discussions in addition to regular tutorials. Invariably the panel discussion turns to the merits of EJB. Understandably, Bruce and I don't always agree on the question of EJB, so it frequently turns into a point-counter-point discussion. Although I try very hard to present what I think is reasonable and fair counter arguments to Bruce's points, I sometimes get a little over zealous. In the past couple of panel discussions that I shared with Bruce, I ended up inadvertently insulting him.

This weekend in Colorado, after hearing Bruce express the opinion that EJB 3.0 was basically Hybernate and that Gavin King was writing the entire CMP spec, I provided my own opinion on the topic. I'm part of the EJB 3.0 JSR so I'm privy to the discussions between all the expert group members. So, I said: Although we owe a debt of gratitude to Gavin and the Hybernate project (as well as Spring, PicoContainer and other open source projects) CMP 3.0 is not Hybernate and Gavin is not the sole author of that part of the specification. If you were ask Gavin himself – a very honest person AFAICT - I'm sure he would tell you that there is a lot of give and take in the design of EJB 3.0 and everyone is working hard on it - anything else you hear is pure non-sense.

While all this is true, I went a bit far by saying at the end of my counter point that, "I hoped that my explanation set Bruce straight." Well that was rude of me and for that I apologize. Bruce Tate has contributed a lot to the EJB community and has helped us better understand many of EJB's drawbacks. He doesn't need me to "set him stright" on anything.

Bruce, I'm sorry.

Richard

A new deck of cards: I found a Job!

Well the good news is that I have accepted a job as a Sr. Analyst at The Burton Group – I start May 24th.

Although I found the job the old fashioned way, through networking, I wanted to thank everyone that responded to my original blog entry and offered support, advice, leads, and occasionally a Job. Thank you. I'm very grateful.

When I made that post I fully expected to get flamed, but I figured it was worth showing a little vulnerability so that people understand that (in at least my case) working on the JCP EC and the JSR Expert Groups and Open Source comes at a cost – even if there are very real benefits.

I'm really looking forward to working with The Burton Group. They are a top notch and very respected organization that has a more technical focus than Forrester and Gartner – anyway its right up my alley.

Thanks again to all those who responded – it was a very positive experience and I'm grateful.

Richard

9 of Clubs Seeks a new Deck of Cards

Recently I had the honor of being named one of the 53 most influential people in the Java industry by The Middleware Company. My card was the 9 of Clubs – I have no idea how to interpret that distinction. Obviously, it’s a nice complement especially considering that the votes came from developers who subscribe to TheServerSide.com mailing list – a resource I consult regularly even if the threads are frequently hijacked.

You would think that a guy in this deck of cards is probably making gross amounts of money and living a leisurely life. I can't speak for the other people on the list, but that doesn't describe my life at all. I work really freaking hard – as hard as anyone reading this blog – and I don't own a yacht or drive a Lamborghini. I'm not poor by any stretch of the imagination, but I'm not going to make the Forbs list anytime soon.

The truth is being an independent is hard work. I've been at it now for about five years and its never been a cake walk – ok occasionally it's been easy, but most of the time its not. For the most part I'm busting my butt trying to convince companies that I'm worth what I'm worth even if John and Jane Doe charge a faction of the price. The truth is, I'm usually over qualified for most consulting gigs so the spectrum of opportunities available to me is actually less than the average developer.

I heard once that winning an Oscar in Hollywood is a double edge sword. Actors who win are recognized for the quality of their work, but subsequently find it hard to find work. I even heard it descried as the Oscar "Death Knell": Its great to win, but its better to get nominated. This is probably a bit of hyperbola and I don't mean to compare my meager success to winning an Oscar, but the truth is: Success is measured in many ways and peer recognition – while wonderful – doesn't always translate into big bucks and loads of free time.

After more than five years of going-it-alone, I finally asked for help. This Monday I decided to try my luck for the first time with the grape vine. Although I have frequently helped others find work, I've rarely asked for help myself. Why? Well I guess I felt that I should be able to find my own work. Also it’s a matter of pride. I don’t like to ask for help. I don't want my peers to know that its hard for me to find work that fits my skills and pays well – everyone seems to assume that if your well known you automatically make tones of money. Its not always true.

I've been very involved in the Java industry. Two months after I started learning Java I started the Wisconsin Java User's group – that was back in the spring of 1996. Since than I've volunteered for all sorts of things from open source projects to JSRs and I'm proud of what I've accomplished. The culmination of all this altruism was being voted into the JCP Executive Committee last fall – an honor I've take very seriously.

I've done good things for our industry, but I feel its time to step back and let others have the glory. I have a family now. My boy, Henry is about 2 1/2, and my daughter, Olivia, is just 9 months. I need to look inward toward my family and put them first. That means I need to find a stable job with some longevity and hopefully something with a lot less travel. I think I was honored with the 9 of clubs because I've donated so much of my time to the Java community – people will probably laugh at that, but I can't think of any other reason. Working on expert groups, open source, and the JCP consume enormous amounts of time, but pays nothing, zip, zilch. That's ok, I knew that going into these endeavors and its expected that I should be able to leverage my contacts and name recognition into a living. I have done that to some extent, but it hasn't been easy. You still have to find work that fits your credentials and sell yourself at rates that are affordable – these are usually contradictory objectives after a certain point.

OK, so why this blog? Well, I'm hoping that someone will read it and say "Hey, I got just the job for this guy! What's his e-mail address?" (btw it is Richard@Monson-Haefel.com). Head hunters and other professional placement guys should not bother to contact me - you guys are evil.

There is another reason: On occasion I've had people ask me how they can manage their career to become more successful – to be more like me. This always makes me wince. I've been fortunate – no doubt about it – but I wouldn't recommend my life style to anyone. It’s a lot of work with very little pay. As I said, peer recognition is great – its probably the best recognition you can have – but making a living is not a bad thing either. I'm honored to be counted in that deck of cards with the likes of James Gosling, Rod Johnson, Gavin King and others – but its time to join a new deck – one that gives me more time with my family and actually pays a salary.

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