Top 10 Destinations for Enterprise Developers at the 2006 JavaOne Conference

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The year 2006 is shaping up to be a significant one for developers of the Java Platform, Enterprise Edition (Java EE, formerly referred to as J2EE). With the upcoming finalization of the Java EE 5 platform specification and the near-term release of the Java EE 5 SDK -- a preview release is already available -- enterprise developers have access to technologies such as Enterprise JavaBeans (EJB) 3.0 that make development of enterprise applications easier than ever before. In addition, new developer tools that leverage these technologies give enterprise developers an even easier visually based experience.

This year also brings some interesting developments in Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA). With the emergence of new and improved web services technologies, such as Java API for XML Web Services (JAX-WS) 2.0 and Java Architecture for XML Binding (JAXB) 2.0, and new tools and solutions that simplify web service composition and SOA governance, 2006 could be the year when companies -- and their enterprise developers -- shift from SOA pilot projects to a more comprehensive SOA commitment.

But there's much more. Open source and interoperability are important themes for 2006. Perhaps more than ever, the open-source community is making a major impact in enterprise Java technology, as evidenced by the work of the GlassFish community and open-source efforts in the SOA area. On the interoperability front, 2006 could be the year when efforts such as Project Tango bear fruit, bringing better interoperability between Java EE and .Net environments.

They're all covered in the 2006 JavaOne conference, which promises to be particularly rich in content for enterprise developers. This year's conference is fully loaded with technical sessions, Birds-of-a-Feather (BOF) sessions, panel discussions, hands-on labs, and case studies -- with more than 100 offerings on enterprise Java technology topics. That doesn't even count Java University, NetBeans Software Day, and the JavaOne Pavilion, all of which are part of the JavaOne conference experience and offer learning opportunities for enterprise developers.

Here are 10 must-see destinations and some related recommendations for enterprise developers at the 2006 JavaOne conference. Note: The schedule of sessions and speakers is subject to change, so check the catalog of 2006 JavaOne conference sessions periodically.

1. EJB 3.0, Java Persistence API, and the Web Tier (TS-1887)
   
   One of the key parts of the EJB 3.0 specification is the Java Persistence API, a new standard API for data persistence and object/relational mapping. In this session, Linda DeMichiel, the EJB 3.0 specification co-lead and chief architect at Sun Microsystems for EJB technology, is joined by two other server-side Java platform "heavyweights": Gavin King of the JBoss Group, the founder of the Hibernate Project, a popular open-source, object/relational persistence and query service for Java technology; and Craig McClanahan, creator of the Struts framework and former specification co-lead for JavaServer Faces technology. In this session, the speakers focus on the use of EJB 3.0 and the Persistence API in web-tier applications.
   
   If you'd like an overview of EJB 3.0 technology, attend the session "Enterprise JavaBeans 3.0" (TS-3396). In this session, Linda DeMichiel and Sun engineers Tony Ng and Kenneth Saks cover some of the technology's key features, such as dependency injection, that simplify the development of enterprise applications. And if you'd like a wider overview of the simplifications made in the Java EE 5 platform, attend the session "Blueprints for Using the Simplified Java EE 5 Programming Model" (TS-1969). Here, Kenneth Saks, with Sun engineers Sean Brydon and Inderjeet Singh, will take you through all of the major simplification features in the Java EE 5 platform and compare its programming model with that of the J2EE 1.4 platform.
   
   
2. What's Happening With SOA in Open Source? (TS-2002)
   
   From Business Process Execution Language (BPEL) generators to Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) implementations, open-source solutions are making their way into many facets of SOA. This panel discussion features technical representatives of companies such as IBM, Sonic Software, LogicBlaze, and Sun Microsystems as well as representatives of open-source communities such as ObjectWeb and JBoss, who talk about their open-source efforts in SOA. They'll also talk about new and evolving integration standards for SOA. Bring your questions for the panel.
   
   If you're interested in learning more about the intersection of open source and SOA, visit the session "Practical SOA Business Integration Using OpenESB: A Distributed Java Business Integration Composed Services Application How-to and Demo" (TS-1076). You'll get some practical insights into using an open-source ESB that conforms to the Java Business Integration (JBI) specification.
   
   There are a number of other interesting sessions on SOA-related topics. For example, "Building a Service With BPEL and the Java EE Platform: How Composite Applications and JBI Simplify SOA Development" (TS-3175) should provide some valuable insights into creating SOA-based composite applications, using BPEL to orchestrate Java EE platform components in a JBI-augmented application server. Two other sessions are on the new Service Component Architecture (SCA), an approach designed to simplify application development in an SOA. These are "Service Component Architecture: Approach to Security, Transactions, and Policy" (TS-3765) and "Using Service Component Architecture to Wire BPEL Processes to Java Technology-Based Components" (TS-3935).
   
   
3. Project GlassFish: Developing the Java EE SDK (TS-3274)
   
   In June 2005, Sun launched Project GlassFish -- an action that opened to the Java community the development of a Java EE 5 platform-compliant application server. Since then, a large and growing community of developers has actively participated in the project. Come to this session and learn about Project GlassFish from Sun engineers and GlassFish community members Eduardo Pelegri-Llopart, Jerome Dochez, and Karen Padir. Pelegri-Llopart is a Sun Distinguished Engineer in the area of web services and XML; Dochez is the GlassFish architect and technical lead; and Padir is a vice president at Sun responsible for the enterprise Java platform. Learn about Project GlassFish architecture and how to extend it, as well as about what the project has already accomplished. For example, the Java EE 5 SDK is based on code developed through Project GlassFish.
   
   Want to learn more about what's going on with Project GlassFish and where it's headed? Attend the session "Project GlassFish: Where We Are Today and Where We Are Going" (BOF- 0251). Meet project manager Jim Driscoll and project owners Carla Mott and Amy Roh to get answers about Project GlassFish. In addition, you can get hands-on experience in various labs, such as "Developing Interoperable Next Generation Web Services With Project GlassFish, NetBeans IDE, & Java WSDP" (LAB 4335).
   
   
4. Java Technology Techniques for Developing Ajax Applications (TS-3376)
   
   What's hotter than hot in enterprise Java technology development? AJAX, an approach to speeding up web applications by reducing or eliminating the page refreshes that normally accompany communication between a web page and a server. Java technology-related web sites abound with recent articles about AJAX, bloggers pontificate on the subject, and the number of Ajax tools and toolkits is growing. Come to this session and get something you might not get in those articles and blogs: real-life insights. Bruce Johnson, who participated in a major AJAX effort at Google, will tell you what he learned about AJAX, and you can take away some techniques that work.
   
   If you're new to AJAX, try the "Introduction to AJAX" (TS-4489) tutorial, with speakers Dion Almaer and Don Galbraith, cofounders of the Ajax community ajaxian.com. If you're looking for some more guidance regarding AJAX, plan on attending the session "Java EE 5 Blueprints for AJAX-Enabled Web 2.0 Applications" (TS-1615). Hear Sean Brydon and Inderjeet Singh, members of Sun's Java Blueprints team, discuss design approaches and patterns for working AJAX into web applications.
   
   
5. Evolving JavaServer Faces Technology: Ajax Done Right (TS-1161)
   
   There's been a lot of recent discussion about the combination of Ajax and JavaServer Faces technology as a way of creating highly interactive and fast web applications. But are these two technologies really as complementary as the hype would have you believe? Sun's Ed Burns, McKesson Medical Surgical's Jacob Hookom, and Oracle's Adam Winer try to answer this question. Burns is the JavaServer Faces 1.2 specification co-lead, and Hookom and Winer are in the Expert Group. Come to this session and learn about some of the key considerations in combining JavaServer Faces technology and AJAX in a web application.
   
   You can also get some immediate hands-on experience building web applications that incorporate Ajax and JavaServer Faces technology in the lab "Building AJAX-Based JavaServer Faces Web Applications With Sun Java Studio Creator" (LAB-5655). Sun engineers Matthew Bohm and Jayashri Visvanathan will show you how to add AJAX behavior to conventional JavaServer Faces components. Bohm and Visvanathan are responsible for the sample AJAX components that the Java Studio Creator IDE provides. Another session that covers Java Server Faces and AJAX technologies is "Advanced JavaServer Faces Custom Component Development" (TS-3187). In this session, Oracle's Chris Schalk, coauthor with Ed Burns of the book JavaServer Faces: The Complete Reference, will show you how to encapsulate JavaScript/DHTML technology inside a JavaServer Faces custom component and will cover a number of other advanced operations related to JavaServer Faces custom components.
   
   
6. Java API for XML Web Services (JAX-WS) 2.0 (TS-1194)
   
   JAX-WS 2.0 is the centerpiece of a newly rearchitected API stack for web services in the Java EE 5 platform that dramatically simplifies the task of developing web services. Find out what features JAX-WS 2.0 offers in this session with the specification co-leads, Roberto Chinnici and Rajiv Mordani, and the JAX-WS technical lead, Doug Kohlert.
   
   Another important web services technology in the rearchitected API stack for the Java EE 5 platform is Java Architecture for XML Binding (JAXB) 2.0, a technology that simplifies the use of XML content in Java programming language applications. Come to the session "Deep Dive Into JAXB 2.0" (TS-1607), and get some insights into JAXB 2.0's new features from the specification co-lead Sekhar Vajjhala and Sun engineers Kohsuke Kawaguchi and Hans Hrasna.
   
   
7. Composable Web Services Using Interoperable Technologies From Sun's "Project Tango" (TS-4661)
   Interoperability is a key issue to enterprise Java technology developers, and certainly many have long hoped for application interoperability between the Java EE platform and Microsoft .Net. The good news is that Sun and Microsoft engineers are working together to smooth the way to interoperability -- especially for enterprise Java technology applications. In this session, Sun senior engineers Harold Carr and Nicholas Kassem talk about Project Tango -- an effort that brings Sun engineers working on Java EE platform-based web services together with Microsoft engineers working on Microsoft Windows Communication Foundation (WCF). Attend this session and learn about the technologies that Project Tango is focused on.
   
   For more about interoperability between the Java EE platform and .Net, visit the session "Best Practices for Interoperability Between Java Technology and .NET Server Applications" (TS-4611). Hear Sun's Marina Fisher, Mainsoft's Laurence Moroney, and independent consultant Ray Lai, coauthors of the book J2EE .NET Interoperability, cover various approaches for implementing an effective interoperability strategy for Java EE and .Net.
   
   
8. Spring Framework Update (TS-3744)
   
   The Spring Framework is a popular Plain Old Java Object (POJO)- oriented, open-source framework for developing Java EE platform applications. In this session, Spring's cofounder Rod Johnson covers what's new and cool in Spring.
   
   Another must-see session on application frameworks is "Introducing Seam" (TS-3352). The Seam framework integrates the EJB 3.0 component model with JavaServer Faces technology as a presentation tier. This enables some neat things for enterprise developers, such as directly binding EJB components to JavaServer Faces technology-based pages. Show up at this session and hear Seam's creator, Gavin King (yes, the same Gavin King who founded the Hibernate Project), go over the basics of the framework. And for even more talk about web application frameworks, visit "RAD for the Java Platform Web Tier: Frameworks Panel Discussion" (TS-1664). In this session, representatives of Rapid Application Development (RAD) frameworks, such as Grails, Trails, and Rife, square off to debate the advantages of their respective approaches. Yet another interesting web framework discussion is "Smackdown for Ajax Programming Models and Frameworks" (TS-2991). As the title indicates, this one is focused on AJAX. The ringmasters for this session are Sun's Greg Murray, the Servlet specification lead, and Getahead's Joe Walker.
   
   
9. Developing a Commercial Web Site, Using the PHP Scripting Language and J2EE Platform Web-Tier Technologies: Challenges, Benefits, and Drawbacks (TS-5672)
   
   This is one of a number of sessions that draw on real-world case studies. Here, Alexandre Snaps of DOG7 compares and contrasts the use of PHP versus J2EE technologies in developing a commercial web site.
   
   Another interesting session based on real-world case studies is "The Top 10 Ways to Botch an Enterprise Java Technology-Based Application" (TS-5397). Here, Cameron Purdy, president of Tangosol Inc., teaches you how to avoid some of the important pitfalls that are guaranteed to kill enterprise Java technology projects.
   
   
10. Twelve Reasons to Use NetBeans Software: Episode 2 (TS-1387)
    
    This year's JavaOne conference has quite a number of interesting sessions on development tools for enterprise developers. In this session, Sun technologists Inyoung Cho and Charles Ditzel demonstrate some of the new features in the open-source NetBeans IDE, including those for web application development. For a lot more about NetBeans, plan on attending NetBeans Software Day, a companion event to the JavaOne conference.
    
    Some other tool-oriented sessions of note are "Twelve Reasons to Use the Sun Java Studio Creator IDE" (TS-4386), "What's New in JDeveloper" (TS-1279), "Create, Test, and Consume Web Services With the Eclipse Web Tools Platform" (TS-4160), and "Beyond JUnit: Introducing TestNG, the Next Generation in Testing" (TS-3097).
    
    

These and a host of other sessions should make the 2006 JavaOne Conference a truly interesting and enriching experience for enterprise developers.

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