[digital:meditation]

Along with Java SE 6 slowly getting finished, SDN provides a series of articles on how to use JDK 6 and JAX-WS 2.0 to build SOAP-based web services: Part 1 outlines a few basics and introduces the use of NetBeans to create a simple Web Service based application; Part 2 is more in-depth explaining how to use the eBay Web Services API with JAX-WS. Both documents are well-written and definitely help getting into things.

On the other side of the road, Richard Monson-Haefel – J(2)EE folks should mainly know him for his EJB book which probably still is the best reading material on that issue so far – wrote several articles on JAX-WS, not at all coming to a good conclusion: “JAX-WS is Bad, Bad!”, or “Redeemed! JAX-WS still sucks!”. Both papers are worth reading, and his most important complaint about the technology is that JAX-WS overally is a technology way too complex to be used in everyday life, hard to get started with, hard to get set up and debugged in a sane way. His reasoning seems to be quite concise, and in some way, perhaps one should think twice about using JAX-WS.

However, seeing that the combination “NetBeans+glassfish+JAX-WS” allows for creating Web Service based applications almost in a RAD-like way, I surely will spend some time having a closer look at JAX-WS. Perhaps after all it is a matter of choosing the right technology at the right time, and the fact that JAX-WS in an integrated, concise environment might be the faster approach towards getting an application up and running, this is enough a reason to deal with it, building atop of it.

So here we go… JEE 5, the web application framework / environment / platform /whatever based upon the Java programming language, is slowly gaining speed, and indeed it is a technology worth spending some time with. Compared to earlier versions, JEE 5 basically aims at making enterprise application development faster and easier, removing a lot of “overhead” especially to be found in “old” EJB specification (which made creation and especially testing of applications based upon Enterprise JavaBeans a tedious and time-consuming task). And, also relying upon features found in recent JDK platforms (most notably annotations), JEE 5 – code probably for the first time in the history of the platform even can be considered aesthetically appealing. ;)

Overally, there are a bunch of good reasons to get into this, and by now there also is a good way to do so: “Your First Cup: An Introduction To The Java EE Platform” provides you with a brief introduction to what JEE is all about, and how building Java Enterprise applications differs from “simply” building database-backed web sites. Still, this won’t probably keep you from reading at least parts of the “full” JEE 5 Tutorial or some good book on that topic – “First Cup” is good for another reason: If you already know about JEE, you’ll get an idea of the changes this platform has seen in its latest version. And, given the Open-Source Java IDE NetBeans and the JEE 5 application server Glassfish, the tutorial gives you an outline to quickly get started building full-scale applications making use of SOAP web services, EJBs, Java Server Faces and all the other things JEE is about. After all, quite a worthy read.

see also: blogs.sun.com/jenniferb

Nachdem ich ja bekennender Digital-Imaging – Fetischist bin (und diese Leidenschaft bevorzugt mit dem GNU Image Manipulation Program, kurz “Gimp”, auslebe), hab ich mich nunmehr doch entschlossen, das bisweilen eher auf “Trial and Error” basierende Arbeiten mit Bildverarbeitungssoftware mit etwas mehr theoretischem Fundament zu unterfüttern, um die Dinge, die man dort so im alltäglichen Einsatz tut, nicht nur nutzen, sondern auch etwas mehr verstehen zu können. Empfehlenswerte Lektüre der Wahl: “Digitale Bildverarbeitung – Eine Einführung mit Java und ImageJ” (Springer, 2. Auflage Mai 2006). Auf reichlich 500 Seiten vermitteln die Herren Burger und Burge jede Menge Details zu Histogrammen, Pixel-Operationen, Kanten- und Kurven-Erkennung, Filtern, digitalen Bildformaten und jeder Menge anderen Dingen, die für digitale Bildbe- und darüber hinaus -verarbeitung essentiell sind. Angenehm dabei: Trotz des bisweilen zwingend theoretischen Themas ist es den Autoren dabei gelungen, ein gut lesbares, beeindruckend verständliches Buch zu verfassen, welches zudem einen der (wenigen) entscheidenden Nachteile des Gimp kompensiert: Sämtliche erklärten Algorithmen werden mit Beispielen basierend auf Java und ImageJ untermauert, was (grundlegende Java-Kenntnisse vorausgesetzt) ein weites Feld für eigene Experimente aller Art öffnet. Kann man durchaus mal gelesen haben.

Some days ago, a good friend introduced me to the idea of SCP, short for “Sustainable Consumption and Production”, which, after taking some time getting used to it, seems to be rather interesting and worth supporting to me. After all, the idea seems not that difficult: Talking about sustainable development of “underdeveloped” / “poor” countries, effort should be taken to help growing local economies that fit into the local culture and environment. Plus, looking at recent issues like global warming, we also should try achieving production and consumption of goods in an environmentally sound way. Current SCP projects sort of drive forth this idea by encouraging public institutions, governments, … to make buying and consumption decisions not just based on price but also on “sustainability” factors of products. This way, with public organizations spending quite an amount of money on buying goods for “everyday use” (printing paper, pens, light bulbs, …), there could be positive effects both on environment and on local economy, not talking about these examples encouraging others to do the same. Surely there will be some discussion about a government spending more money than absolutely necessary, but in the end, as a country or even a society as a whole, we should think about whether there are other important issues to take care of – and SCP supported by a government indeed would be a good expression of a country caring about these things.

I’m still at the very beginning reading through the material available online, but it seems an interesting issue to deal with. Check out for more:
http://www.iisd.ca/consume/
http://www.iisd.org/susprod/
http://www.unep.fr/pc/sustain/10year/Cooperation%20Dialogue.htm