Friday Mar 13, 2009

Any innovative, creative, novel implementation of Java technology that benefits customers, the industry, or society as a whole, is eligible for nomination!

Remember the Deadline is March 27th, 20009

Winners will be announced at JavaOne 2009.

Fill out nomination form here.

Best of luck "duke-ing" it out!

Wednesday Oct 22, 2008

We're getting close to launching JavaFX, a new technology for creating rich media applications. To get in on the fun, I'd like to invite anyone at Sun (internal only) to write a cool app using JavaFX, learn the new JavaFX development platform, provide feedback, get published, and compete for valuable prizes!

The top 6 apps will earn valuable prizes. All entries will also be featured on the JavaFX sample applications site.

Prizes are:

1st: Sony PS3

2nd: Amazon Kindle

3rd: Flip Video

Ultra 4-6: Bottles of Gosling's Rum

Suggested areas for application focus are:

Visual coolness

Integration of web services

Unique usage of Media in the application

Showcasing Sun's technologies

Don't feel limited to these areas. Feel free to mix-match and event your own areas of focus.

Entries will be judged on readability and elegance of JavaFX Script code, the look and feel of the application, and long-term usability of the application (Demos are great, applications you'd use day to day are even better!)

How to enter:

1. Get your tools

* Get NetBeans (or the JavaFX SDK) from http://javafx.czech.sun.com (step 1 - NetBeans 6.5 with JavaFX installers (Windows, MacOS/X) (en), or step 3 if you just want the SDK)

* Get the Javadoc for JavaFX SDK from http://getjfx.sfbay.sun.com/hudson/job/javafx1.0/ (e.g. check here) * Get started with JavaFX Script. Take a look (http://jfxsamples.sfbay.sun.com/index.html) at other sample applications build by your fellow engineers, examine the code, use the bundled NetBeans projects

2. Be creative

* write your samples, ideally using NetBeans 6.5, where you will have support for code completion, syntax sensitive highlighting, deployment, packaging, etc * test your sample, you will note that if you use NetBeans you can deploy your application as an applet, Java webstart application and even test it using the bundled mobile emulator (use the context menu on the project to "Set configuration | Customize | ...)

3. Package your sample & send it to us

* in most cases we are looking for a .jnlp file on the network (I hope most of you remember how to put a resource on SWAN) and the sources, just don't share this with others for now, it is a contest after all

* if you are using NetBeans, just zip up your project folder; the jnlp file is located in the NetBeansProjects/project_name/dist directory * send us (javafx-contest@sun.com) a note with the URL to the sources of the project

Note: If you run into any trouble send us an email at javafx-samples@sun.com Entries must be received by November 17th. Winners will be chosen by November 30th, and will be highlighted as part of the JavaFX release.

Tuesday Jul 01, 2008

All hail the Java King!


The celebrated (& celebrity-status) Father of Java, James Gosling, has people pulling at his clothes and hunting him down in alleys for his autograph...
But he took a minute out for Canadian Business Weekly to do this revealing interview.

And why do I think you should check out this article?

  • It lays out the history of Java (& the birth of ME!)
  • It overviews the ups & downs Java has experienced with Sun, and my favorite...
  • It gives great insight into the life of humble Java-God, my creator, James Gosling

Java to Gosling is a lot like Spiderman to his Spidey-powers - both a gift and a burden (but mostly a gift, of course); Because he's in such high demand, he can't just sit and do some good ol' program writing.

"In some sense, the success of Java was one of the worst things that's ever happened to me," Gosling says.

But that doesn't fade his affection for Sun, which he calls:

  "...A family of people just kind of doing crazy things."

We love ya too, Mr. Gosling :]

- Duke

This blog copyright 2009 by duke