Friday September 07, 2007

It's called Developer Expert Assistance and I had no idea it existed until someone mentioned it in a meeting today.

A developer with a problem or question about Sun software technology can get help from Sun technical experts for $49 per incident. This help can include sanity checking approaches, programming questions, guidance on best practices, and other technical assistance. For Java, for Sun Studio (C, C++, Fortran, etc.) and for Solaris 10.

And the best part? Quoting from the FAQ:

Q: What if I have follow-on questions to my original query?

A: Your original query is assigned a case number. The case is not closed until you are satisfied. As follow ups to your question, you will have the opportunity to exchange further information and data with Sun until the case is satisfactorily closed.

This is perhaps one of Sun's better hidden secrets. Even though I knew what I was looking for on sun.com, it still look me a long time to find this information. Here are some links:

• An overview of Developer Expert Assistance
• The DEA FAQ
• Some real customer exchanges with Sun experts

For heavy-duty developers, you can buy a one-year subscription to DEA that covers an unlimited number of incidents related to one product or technology ($249/developer), or a premium subscription that covers all products and technologies ($549/developer.) Both of these plans could be real bargains, especially if you are working with new technologies and want Sun to have your back while you come up to speed.