jphone.org - 2008 September 05

Milestone 6 of the OpenJFX Compiler has just been released. Here is a short summary from Brian, of what was done in the last iteration:

"This sprint was heavy on language cleanup, most notably access and mutability controls needed for writing safe components. We're pleased to report that we accomplished nearly all the items that were (ambitiously) scheduled for this sprint. Major improvements include:

Access control ? public, protected, package, public-init, public-read
Access control ? default visibility is now script-private
Reflection
IDE support ? significant improvement in range of erroneous programs for which we can deliver an intact tree to the IDE plugin
Type inference improvements
Java SE 5 support for compiler on Desktop
Static import of top-level functions
Java integration ? access to package-level members
Reduction in compile-time memory utilization
Simplification of distinctions between instance / static / local variables ? all variables are defined with var or def
Auto-import of key types and functions from javafx.lang, including println()
Default for interpolation is now LINEAR
String literal syntax cleanups ? multi-line string literals, escaping of right brace consistent with left brace
Deprecation of string concatenation with +
Rename % to MOD
Rename <> to !=
Enforce use of override keyword for functions
Runtime support for asynchronous operations
Numerous error message improvements

And, of course,

Numerous bug fixes"

All in all more than 130 issues have been closed during this sprint.

Staying on top of what's going on in the Java world is a part of my job I really enjoy. I have a big list of feeds for my favorite bloggers, news sites, and forums. But I tend to skim so I can rush to the next thing. And my emails, IM buddies, everyone's I know's tweets and facebook statuses are just a click away, ready to distract me at any moment.

Sound familiar ?

So I enjoy the times when I am restricted from this skittish behavior: in the car, at the airport, walking to the coffee shop. I enjoy them because I can focus in, without interruption, on some of my favorite technology podcasts.

For those of you who are interested and are looking for something new to tune into in the area of Java and client technologies, I put together a little survey of the ones I subscribe to. And if you feel like it, let me know if you have a top podcast in a comment below.

Podcast	Format	Topics	Length & Frequency	My likes	Subscribe
The Java Posse	A quartet of hosts collectively dissect Java news, new products and get in group conversation with movers and shakers from the Java universe.	Java SE, Java EE product and technology developments.	Anywhere between 45 and 90 mins, most weeks.	Tor, Dick, Carl and Joe's expert and merry banter Great supporting website
Java Mobility Podcast	Double act covering Java news and products around the mobile and embedded community, plus a featured expert guest each cast.	Java ME, mobile and embedded technologies.	15-30 mins, two to 4 times a month,	On site (e.g. from conference floor) interviews. Focus on adoption of technology in products, not just technology alone
JavaWorld Technology Insider	One on one interviews with technology leaders and creators in the Java community and beyond.	Java SE, Java EE, Web Services, tools.	30-45 mins, two or three times a month.	Expert guests Interviews that dig deep - e.g. Ted Neward on Scala
This Ain't Your Dad's Java	Click and Clack style news and interviews from the product marketing team for Java with some stellar technical guests.	JavaFX, Java SE, Java ME	30 to 75 mins, weekly.	Ubergeeks turned product marketeers go wild and occasionally say a few things they shouldn't.
Swampcast	In depth interviews with software luminaries, webmasters and CTOs of popular services. And the occasional actress.	General software, programming languages but often Java of various SE and EE flavors.	Anywhere between 20 and 75 mins, frequency highly variable	Quality guests who roll up their sleeves during the day Sheer variety of topics