Monday, August 25, 2008

Jython News!

Check out the latest Jython Monthly for some great news on the up and coming Jython 2.5 release. It is now in alpha stages, but it is looking great so far!

You can also read-up on using Django with Jython...good work Leo Soto! Also take this opportunity to ask all of your Jythonic questions of Jim Baker...a lead Jython developer. See newsletter for more details!

NetCAT 6.5 Update

I thought I'd give a brief update of the status on the NetCAT 6.5 testing. If you are unaware of what NetCAT is, please visit the site to learn more about it.

Thus far, it appears that Netbeans 6.5 is on track with the latest projections of a production release sometime in October. As you probably already know, the first beta release was distributed already and is available here. In the release, most of the new features are fully implemented. I will warn that there are some bugs obviously found in the release (expected because it is a beta) that could cause some minor issues in your development. For instance, the new "deploy on save" feature of Netbeans is nice but has many quirks at this time. If you are developing a JavaEE application, each time you save an XHMTL, JSP, or HTML file then the complete application is recompiled and deployed. I have found that this can lead to decreased productivity as it can cause workstation performance degradation as well as PermGen errors on the deployment application server. This is probably the largest bug I've seen since the beta release, so please do not allow it to keep you away from testing the release.

For those of you who have downloaded and tested the beta release, you already know that the IDE is looking great! Netbeans developers have been outstanding in repairing bugs and putting great new features into the IDE. Each new release of Netbeans brings it one step closer to "the only IDE you will ever need" in my book...but don't take my word, please test and see for yourself.

Before I post this blog I also want to mention that for those Grails developers in the community, Netbeans 6.5 is a must have! Productivity time is increased even more by using the combination of Grails with Netbeans. One of the advantages that Netbeans offers is the Grails plugin wizard...just right-click on your project to install or uninstall any Grails plugin. No need to make that trip to the website any longer for plugin updates!

Download 6.5 beta and enjoy...

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Netbeans 6.5 Beta Is Available...Grab It and Test!

The Netbeans team has just released 6.5 beta. Having been testing the latest nightly builds, I think that you'll be pleased with the beta once you try it. The Groovy/Grails support is in great shape. New features have been added since M1, including a plugin manager and different application layout.

You'll also enjoy the automatic deploy on save feature. This really helps to speed up development time.

Congrats to the Netbeans team on delivering this beta of 6.5...it is looking so far.

Wednesday, August 06, 2008

Plan Your Events for Free - Gather Event Planning

Gather Event Planning is a free service that I started a few months ago to assist individuals or groups that are planning events. The service is based upon my open source reunion planning software. This service is web hosting which provides sites geared towards planning and organizing events such as reunions, meetings, or gatherings in general. Each Gather Event Planning website grants it's owner privileges to change all page content, administer mailing and guest lists, post news, etc.

Originally, I was planning to charge a minimal fee for the service in order to cover the costs of hosting. However, I've partnered up with another group to pay for the hosting and together we've produced Restoring The Roar a Chicago Blackhawks Hockey fan site. I've also partnered up with another associate who will be starting a website shortly. Gather Event Planning is now free thanks to the new partnerships.

So if you or someone you know needs to plan an event of any kind, please try out Gather Event Planning...and give me feedback!

Netbeans 6.5 - Project Properties Additions

Some of the nice new features of Netbeans 6.5 include Groovy and PHP support, automatic project deployment on save (which makes development time much quicker), and some new additions in the Project Properties menu. Allan Christensen blogs about the new Project-Based formatting option which is available. This gives you the ability to apply different formatting styles on a per-project basis.

Another nice new addition to the project properties menu is the Javascript Libraries. This allows you to choose from a set of default Javascript libraries (Yahoo User Interface, Dojo, etc) and add them to your project. This new option also gives you the ability to add your own libraries which is very handy.