Trisha's Ramblings

So if java generics slightly disappointed me lately , what have I found cool? I'm currently working on a web application using Spring MVC , which probably doesn't come as a big surprise, it seems to be all the rage these days. Since this is my baby, I got to call the shots as to a lot of the framework choices. When it came to looking at implementing validation, I refused to believe I'd have to go through the primitive process of looking at all the values on the request and deciding if they pass muster, with some huge if statement. Even with Spring's rather marvelous binding and validation mechanisms to take the worst of the tasks off you, it still looked like it would be a bit of a chore. Given all the cool things you can do with AOP etc I figured someone somewhere must've implemented an annotations-based validation plugin for Spring. And they have . And there's actually a reasonable amount of information about how to set it up and get it working. The pr...

When I first started playing with Java 1.5, I thought generics were the best thing since sliced bread. No more untidy casting, lovely type-safe Collections, and when combined with the new for loop , a lot of the tedious tasks associated with Collections became easier and, most importantly, aesthetically pleasing. Consider the old code: List list = new ArrayList(); list.add(new Integer(1)); Integer integer = (Integer)list.get(0); for (Iterator i = list.iterator(); i.hasNext(); ) { Integer number = (Integer)i.next(); number.intValue(); } And the new: List<Integer> list = new ArrayList<Integer>(); list.add(new Integer(2)); Integer integer = list.get(0); for (Integer number : list) { number.intValue(); } See? Much prettier. OK so it's a silly little example but when you apply it to all the places you use things like Collections it does make life a lot easier, especially when you consider that now you *k...

Isn't a shame that actual day-to-day work always seems to get in the way of progress?  How you're always too busy fire-fighting to actually perform the critical thing that might actually improve affairs. All this is basically a setup for a roundabout excuse for why this blog has been neglected so shortly after it was begun.  I was a bit too busy doing the day job. Still, people like Joel and Scott manage regular pronouncements and I'm sure they're much busier than I!

This is a bloody good idea . It builds upon my own Virgoen tendancies to write lists and tick things off, but what the list model lacks is the "in progress" state. Plus occasionally my lists get confused. See today's notebook page: Thursday Fix bugs in Test Director Merge fixes up Do build Merge down Read terms of contract E-mail solicitor Go to Robert Dyas Order DAB Radio Finish business analysis docs Carry on with QCon note consolidation How do I know which ones I've started? I could do with a couple of boards at least as well to separate the personal from the business. Also note that I took something away from my Time Management course, attended when I was a mere graduate at a large manufacturing organisation: make a new list for each day, discarding your completed items and moving forward the incomplete ones (it also mentions to discard "low priority" items that haven't been done over a week or two under the theory that you'll never do it if ...

I might be too late in writing my own thoughts on QCon, but a bunch of other people have done a pretty good job.

From spellfecker  today: Certifiction (n.) : a professional endorsement which states only that the holder had the money to pay for the exam. ...which reminded me of this debate , particularly the first comment.

Investigate Maven 2 Have a glance at TestNG Potentially play with JMock for current testing framework Play with GWT Sign up for Pragmatic Architect event Check out JavaBlackBelt site - what is provided, and what are the feelings of professionals (or, more importantly, recruiters) towards these qualifications? Look into getting Visual Studio .NET again so you can have a go at GUI development in it. Go to technorati . Investigate JUnit 4 changes/improvements

...there are a number of points in this interview with Paul Oldfield which are interesting to consider when thinking about "doing Agile right".  It seems to be compatible with my "people over process" view - I'm not stating that having good people negates the need for any form of process or discipline, I have seen that this is simply not the case.  I do however think that agile techniques in particular rely heavily upon the "right" people / team, for some nebulous definition of  "right".

Things I took out of QCon: I want to play with Ajax .  Maybe I've "grown out" of front end development but that doesn't prevent it from being (potentially) extremely cool Selenium looks like a good place to start for automated website testing It can take up to 7 years to move away from a legacy architecture.  Depressing, but at least it shows it can be done and it's worth the effort I'm going to become a certified Scrum Master Mistress .  I believe Agile in some form or other is the most efficient way to run software development, but there are a LOT of lessons to learn in order to get it right.  And number one lesson is you need the right team.

Last week saw the first QCon London conference, an event "designed with the technical depth and enterprise focus of interest to technical team leads, architects, and project managers". The conference consisted of two days of tutorials followed by three days of talks covering technologies, vendor products, and processes. In addition there were numerous "networking" opportunities with plenty of break times to both absorb information and meet other people, plus evening events. The conference was both comprehensive and absorbing, and I'm hoping to take the next few days to filter through the notes I have taken and present a more succinct version here. Whether it will be of use to anyone other than myself remains to be seen...