Introduction to Aspect-Oriented Programming by Graham O’Regan — Aspect-oriented programming (AOP) offers the ability to overlay new functionality atop existing code not by rewriting and recompiling, but by adding “aspects” to the compiled code. Graham O’Regan has an introduction.

Otaku, Cedric’s weblog: JSR 175 war stories

J2EE Performance

ColorMatch Remix: “ColorMatch Remix

This colorpicker is based heavily upon the code from ColorMatch 5k. I’ve made it more compatible – it now works in Mozilla, and should also work in Opera, since I’m using a much better slider control. I’ve also added 3 more colors, bringing the total auto-generated colors to 9, and the ability to export your colors to a Photoshop color table.”

Servlets How-To Documents

These How-To Documents are aimed at helping developers to quickly start understanding certain Java Servlet features, without having to consult the detailed documentation of products or technologies.

JSP 2.0: The New Deal, Part 3 by Hans Bergsten — In this third article on JSP 2.0, Hans Bergsten (author of JavaServer Pages, 3rd Edition) shows the improvements made in JSP 2.0 for writing JSP pages as XML documents.

The next Wisconsin Java User Group meeting will be held on Wednesday, May 19th, 2004.

NOTE: there is a different location for this meeting!
This meeting will be held at the Best Western Midway Hotel in Brookfield

The topic of this meeting is:
Jython in Action
By: John Carnell

Please click here for all the details.

*** Special JUG Offer #1: Barnes&Noble.com has set up a special bookstore for Sun affiliated Java User Group members, offering you an additional 5% off your bookstore purchases. Just visit http://btob.bn.com/index.asp?sourceID=0040285524&btob=Y and use this whenever you shop Barnes & Noble online.

*** Special JUG Offer #2: TeamSoft is offering all Java User Group members a 5% discount on any public training class that is taught by TeamSoft and is booked through TeamSoft! Please check out our training at www.teamsoftinc.com/teamsoft/public/training.jsp. (offer subject to change without notice)

This is a private blog where I keep track of articles, blog, tutorials to read, things to download and just anything interesting that I may find useful later. I plan on using this blog in conjunction to my Wiki, that’s currently powered by the awesome JSPWiki.

My hope is to use the ‘BlogThis!’ button on my Google toolbar along with the awesome email-to-blog functionality offered by Blogger to add new posts via. email. We’ll see if this experiment will work. I guess only time will tell.

Addison-Wesley Professional just released a few new books that sounded interesting to me. I am hoping to pick up copies of these books in the next few weeks to see if they are any good. The books that I though looked interesting are:

User Stories Applied: For Agile Software Development
By Mike Cohn.
Paperback: 268 pages
Publisher: Addison-Wesley Pub Co; (March 1, 2004)
ISBN: 0321205685

Thoroughly reviewed and eagerly anticipated by the agile community, User Stories Applied offers a requirements process that saves time, eliminates rework, and leads directly to better software. The best way to build software that meets users’ needs is to begin with “user stories”: simple, clear, brief descriptions of functionality that will be valuable to real users. In User Stories Applied, Mike Cohn provides you with a front-to-back blueprint for writing these user stories and weaving them into your development lifecycle.

You’ll learn what makes a great user story, and what makes a bad one. You’ll discover practical ways to gather user stories, even when you can’t speak with your users. Then, once you’ve compiled your user stories, Cohn shows how to organize them, prioritize them, and use them for planning, management, and testing.

• User role modeling: understanding what users have in common, and where they differ
  
• Gathering stories: user interviewing, questionnaires, observation, and workshops
  
• Working with managers, trainers, salespeople and other “proxies”
  
• Writing user stories for acceptance testing
  
• Using stories to prioritize, set schedules, and estimate release costs
  
• Includes end-of-chapter practice questions and exercises

User Stories Applied will be invaluable to every software developer, tester, analyst, and manager working with any agile method: XP, Scrum… or even your own home-grown approach.

Agile Project Management : Creating Innovative Products
by Jim Highsmith
Paperback: 312 pages
Publisher: Addison-Wesley Pub Co; (March 29, 2004)
ISBN: 0321219775

Now, one of the field’s leading experts brings together all the knowledge and resources you need to use APM in your next project. Jim Highsmith shows why APM should be in every manager’s toolkit, thoroughly addressing the questions project managers raise about Agile approaches. He systematically introduces the five-phase APM framework, then presents specific, proven tools for every project participant. Coverage includes:

• Six principles of Agile Project Management
  
• How to capitalize on emerging new product development technologies
  
• Putting customers at the center of your project, where they belong
  
• Creating adaptive teams that respond quickly to changes in your project’s “ecosystem”
  
• Which projects will benefit from APM—and which won’t
  
• APM’s five phases: Envision, Speculate, Explore, Adapt, Close
  
• APM practices, including the Product Vision Box and Project Data Sheet
  
• Leveraging your PMI skills in Agile environments
  
• Scaling APM to larger projects and teams
  
• For every project manager, team leader, and team member

Now that the Wisconsin Java Software Symposium (‘No Fluff, Just Stuff‘ Java Symposium) is over, I wanted to get together all the blog entries from the people that attended the symposium. In addition to my blog entries, I am also including entries from Vibhu, Brennan and Al.

• Vinny Carpenter (me)
  
  • No Fluff Just Stuff – Day One
  • No Fluff Just Stuff – Day Two
  • No Fluff Just Stuff – Day Three
  
  
• Vibhu Srinivasan
  
  • NoFluff Java Symposium Milwaukee
  • Thoughts from Java Symposium
  
  
• Brennan Stehling
  
  • No Fluff, Just Stuff
  • NFJS Recap
  
  
• Al Wick
  
  • EJB Alternatives

If you’ve blogged about the Milwaukee Java Software Symposium, please send me an email or send me a traceback and I’ll add a link here.