One of the first things that crossed my mind after being asked to review JRun
3.0 was this: How could I objectively evaluate this product without being
biased by my own experience working with a competing product? To give you a
little background, all but one of the major Internet application projects
I've worked on used this other product (which will remain nameless) as their
Java application server. In addition, I've seen this product used so often in
conjunction with Oracle Enterprise and Sun servers that the combination in my
mind has become a semiofficial architectural standard. Despite its prominence
in the Java application server space I had to come to the realization that
other application servers on the market are just as capable and have unique
and desirable features of their own. One such product is Allaire's JRun
Application Server 3.0.
JRun 3.0 ships wi... (more)
Having been involved in a fair number of development projects over the years,
I've often wondered what goes on during the process of setting up and
configuring installation programs using authoring tools such as
InstallShield. The task of generating a setup program was always assigned to
some unsuspecting junior programmer on the team. How they were able to get
all the various components, registry settings and so on set up in the tool
and compressed into a single file was always a well-guarded secret (I always
thought it had something to do with job security). Anyway, driven by ... (more)
Information technology sometimes reminds me of the magic industry. The first
time a new and exciting act is performed, it creates a level of stir in the
industry, leading to the eagerness of other magicians to perform it in their
acts. Over time, the secret is gradually shared (or obtained by illicit
means) among fellow magicians until eventually everyone is performing it. You
can carry this analogy to Web services. For what started out as a trickle, we
now have a myriad of products implementing SOAP-related protocols - old hat
at this point.
But the core issue regarding Web ser... (more)
Anyone who has recently been on the job hunting circuit, looking for a
position as a developer, knows that employers are getting rather picky. With
the oversupply of IT professionals, recruiters are not just looking for good
people, they are looking for good people with an exact skill set to match
their requirements. As such, the chances of getting the position you desire
is not as guaranteed as it was back in the boom times four years ago. Besides
having good looks and luck, one of the ways that you can get around this
dilemma is to maintain a diverse set of skills on your résum... (more)
DeployDirector provides a comprehensive environment for maintaining Java
applications across the enterprise. It consists of several modules, including
a server-based repository, an administrative interface, and a client-side
agent. The administrative tool allows you to configure and deploy new or
updated versions of an application to thousands of client desktops across the
enterprise.
A Java applet performs installs and updates, obtaining all the necessary
components from a server-based repository. For installs, the applet is
invoked from a Web page while the application automat... (more)