More J2SE 1.5 buzz
Javaworld has a 3-part article on the new features in Java 1.5 (aka Tiger). The blurb describes it as the "most significant revision" to the language since its original inception. [That's absolute rubbish, if you ask me.] IMHO, J2SE 1.2 was far bigger. It showed the language mature and stabilize and hold its own. The features in 1.5 are at best can-haves not must-haves. Some of the features like support for enums should have been there in the first place. To be fair, I like the Autoboxing and Unboxing and Generics features, and plan to use these two with studious zeal.
With these new features, the language adds some veneer to the woodwork. The Java language (with the JSDK) couldn't have asked for a better evolution cycle. Like in a typical neighborhood swimming pool, there are different sides to the language. There's the shallow end for newbie developers (1.0 was largely just that), then the medium and deep ends for more adept programmers. There's also the diving section to whet the appetites of the code-gurus out there. The evolution of the language has been marked at various points by excitement and innovations in a whole plethora of areas: open source projects, patterns, anti-patterns, development methodologies and testing processes. Swing however stands out as a stinky sock. I don't know anybody -- user or developer -- who's a great fan of the Java UI. Sun needs to throw it away and go with SWT. And it needs to do more with the VM. I've talked about it here. More on that later.
You can read the Javaworld article here.
With these new features, the language adds some veneer to the woodwork. The Java language (with the JSDK) couldn't have asked for a better evolution cycle. Like in a typical neighborhood swimming pool, there are different sides to the language. There's the shallow end for newbie developers (1.0 was largely just that), then the medium and deep ends for more adept programmers. There's also the diving section to whet the appetites of the code-gurus out there. The evolution of the language has been marked at various points by excitement and innovations in a whole plethora of areas: open source projects, patterns, anti-patterns, development methodologies and testing processes. Swing however stands out as a stinky sock. I don't know anybody -- user or developer -- who's a great fan of the Java UI. Sun needs to throw it away and go with SWT. And it needs to do more with the VM. I've talked about it here. More on that later.
You can read the Javaworld article here.
