SE News

Sun started a revolution with Java technology 10 years ago. With a free runtime, an open specification, and a platform-independent promise of compatibility, Java technology became a gold standard in embedded devices, mobile phones, on the desktop and within the enterprise. Now, in 2006, Sun is open sourcing its implementations of Java technology as Free/Libre software.

http://www.sun.com/software/opensource/java/

When performing a ‘buy’ analysis and selecting a product as part of a software acquisition strategy, most organizations will consider primarily the requirements (the ability of the product to meet the need) and the cost. The method used for the analysis and selection activities can range from the use of basic intuition to counting the number of requirements fulfilled, or something in between. The selection and evaluation of the product must be done in a consistent, quantifiable manner to be effective. By using a formal method, it is possible to mix very different criteria into a cohesive decision; the justification for the selection decision is not just based on technical, intuitive, or political factors. This report describes various methods for selecting candidate commercial off-the-shelf packages for further evaluation, possible methods for evaluation, and other factors besides requirements to be considered. It also describes the use of a decision analysis spreadsheet as one possible tool for use in the evaluation process.

Michael S. Bandor

http://www.sei.cmu.edu/publications/documents/06.reports/06tn026.html

Java and real-time–some might think that these words are from separate contexts, but actually one of the oldest JSRs (JSR number 1, to be exact) is about a real-time extension for the Java platform. However, order of submission does not guarantee order of implementation. The fact that Sun implemented it only recently does not mean it’s a low-priority feature; it’s actually a very complicated and thorough piece of work. But are real-time requirements compatible with the Java religion? Many issues must be addressed, such as GC semantics, synchronization, thread scheduling, and high-resolution time management. In this article, I will shed some light on them.

Peter Mikhalenko

http://www.onjava.com/pub/a/onjava/2006/05/10/real-time-java-introduction.html

The first in a three-part series, this article introduces the Systems Modeling Language (SysML), a general-purpose, graphical modeling language for product and systems development. Part 1 describes SysML requirements, use-case, and test-case diagrams. The SysML standard gives systems engineers and architects a much-needed way to collaborate using a common language that is specifically designed to support this process. As a standard modeling language for systems engineering, SysML will enable improved communications across development teams, while greatly enhancing our ability to manage ever-growing system complexity. Further, by enabling an electronic representation of the product design, SysML opens the door to analytics for faster and more effective decision-making across the entire systems development lifecycle.

Laurent Balmelli

http://www-128.ibm.com/developerworks/rational/library/aug06/balmelli/index.html

This technical report analyzes the output of 18 evaluations conducted using the Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method (ATAM) developed by the Carnegie Mellon Software Engineering Institute. The goal of this analysis was to find patterns in the risk themes identified during those evaluations. The major results are: * a categorization of risk themes * the observation that twice as many risk themes are risks of “omission” as are risks of “commission” * a failure to find a relationship between the business/mission goals of a system and the risk themes revealed during an ATAM evaluation of that system * a failure to find a relationship between the domain of a system being evaluated and the risk themes associated with the development of that system

Len Bass, Robert Nord, William Wood, and David Zubrow

http://www.sei.cmu.edu/publications/documents/06.reports/06tr012.html

Toward the end of his life, legendary mathematician Jacques Hadamard asked 100 of the top scientists of his time how they did whatever it was that they did (math, physics, etc.) Hadamard’s survey found a massive disconnect between how we teach math and science and how mathematicians and scientists actually work. The majority of his contemporaries apparently claimed that using the logical, left-brain symbols associated with their work was NOT how they did their work. These were simply the tools they used to communicate it. What they used to do the works was much… fuzzier. Intuition. Visualization. Sensation (Einstein talked of a kinesthetic element). Anthropomorphizing. Metaphors. […] What experts use to do their work are the things we don’t teach. We focus almost exclusively on how to talk about the work.

Kathy Sierra

http://headrush.typepad.com/creating_passionate_users/2006/11/why_does_engine.html

Recently I began to write a paper on TDD Anti-Patterns, and decided to first quickly jot down some of the most common ones that others or myself have encountered ‘in the wild.’ I then posted what I had on the testdrivendevelopment-on-yahoogroups mailing list, and got an excellent bit of feedback!

As a side note, keep in mind this is merely a catalog at the moment, hopefully to be expanded in full down the road.

James Carr

http://blog.james-carr.org/?p=44

XForms is the next generation of Web-based data processing. It replaces traditional HTML forms with an XML data model and presentation elements. In this three-part series, you’ll be introduced to XForms and its capabilities, including the basic XForms model and form, the various types of controls, and basic and advanced form submission. This article covers how XForms actually works, and shows you how to set up XForms with Firefox and Microsoft Internet Explorer so that you can view your XForms sample.

Chris Herborth

http://www-128.ibm.com/developerworks/xml/library/x-xformsintro1/

Zenoss announced the availability of Zenoss Core version 1.0. Zenoss Core is an integrated IT monitoring product that allows IT administrators to manage the status and health of their entire infrastructures through a single web-based console. As a free, open source software product, Zenoss provides organizations world-wide with a new alternative for enterprise-grade IT monitoring that is substantially less expensive and easier to deploy than traditional solutions.

http://www.zenoss.com/

Borland JBuilder 2007 brings accelerated development tools to Eclipse, with its renowned RAD and collaborative capabilities, making development fast and reliable for Java, open source and the web.

http://www.borland.com/us/products/jbuilder/index.html

Een CIBIT seminar over de instrumenten voor regelgeving en compliancy. Voor veel organisaties vormen procedures, regelingen en instructies de basis van het dagelijks werk. Voorbeelden zijn de afhandeling van klantvragen, het oplossen van incidenten of het uitvoeren van controles. Deze processen zijn arbeidsintensief, vragen veel kennis van medewerkers en hebben een hoog afbreukrisico bij foutieve afwikkeling, mede in het licht van compliancy. Goede informatievoorziening is dus van groot belang. Enerzijds door te zorgen voor betrouwbaar beheer van een vaak grote verzameling content. Anderzijds door de logica in content niet alleen als tekst maar ook als business rules te representeren, zodat relevante informatie beter vindbaar en toepasbaar wordt. Steeds meer dienstverlenende organisaties en controlerende instanties zoeken dan ook antwoord op vragen als: * Hoe kunnen grote hoeveelheden handleidingen en richtlijnen op een intelligente manier ontsloten worden? * Hoe wordt de dienstverlening gestandaardiseerd en transparant? * Hoe wordt de kwaliteit van processen gewaarborgd en wordt voldaan aan wet- en regelgeving? * Hoe wordt productiviteit verhoogd en inwerktijden van nieuwe medewerkers verkort? * Hoe kan de gecombineerde toepassing van contentmanagement en business rules hierbij helpen?

Benieuwd naar de antwoorden? Kom dan donderdag 7 december naar het CIBIT seminar in het Congrescentrum Figi Zeist van 14:00 - 17:00 uur.

http://www.cibit.nl/site.nsf/page/kim_seminars_informatiemanagement_7_december_2006_content_management_en_business_rules_seminar

Soa zorgt voor flexibiliteit, maar is tegelijkertijd inherent complex. In dit thema gaan auteurs in op mogelijkheden om die paradox op te lossen. De architectuur van de wendbare organisatie.

http://www.informatie.nl/