John Zukowski

Once upon a time, the only technologies you needed to know to develop Web applications were HTML and Perl. Nowadays, while HTML is still around, the days of using Perl for development of sophisticated Web-based applications are long gone. Sure, it can still be done, but there's a whole can of alphabet soup full of acronyms for connecting Web-based services that is the next big thing. It's those acronyms, and the connection of the services they define, that this book covers. Checking in at just under 600 pages and nine chapters, the book's seven authors hit many of the latest buzzwords straight out in the title: Web services, Java, XML, SOAP, WSDL, and UDDI. Targeting the accomplished professional who knows about Web and distributed applications, I found the book to start a little simpler than expected. Perhaps it's just me, but if you're going after the professiona... (more)

Where's Java Going with 6.0?

With the release of the newly renamed Java 5.0 J2SE platform, it's time to speculate on just what might be coming in Java 6.0. Given the typical 18-24 month cycle for major J2SE releases, you need to think beyond the norm and not just about new specification releases that require updated versions in the platform. Sun's Bug Database (http://bugs.sun.com/bugdatabase/) is a good source for ideas about the more normal Request for Enhancements (RFEs), what's missing from the current release or has been missing in past releases. Since Sun has a top 25 list, we won't repeat what's ther... (more)

EchoSearch 1.05

EchoSearch is a Java-based, multi-search engine query assistant. Through its primitive interface, anyone can quickly develop queries to go against its seven predefined Web or Usenet search engines. The concept behind EchoSearch is great, and surely needed. However, execution leaves much to be desired, given other more powerful tools on the net. Setup is fairly easy after downloading the 4MB executable and the online help is provided in HTML format. Other than some invalid internal links, the help text is very useful in describing interaction with the tool and ways to improve you... (more)

The Magic of Merlin

Stop the presses! Clear the rain forests! The Merlin books are coming! The Merlin books are coming! This thing is huge and the books will keep getting bigger. Forget about thin clients. The runtime class libraries alone have jumped from 13.5MB in the 1.3 release to 22MB with the new version. Looking back to the Fall of '95, the entire Java 1.0 download was less than 4MB, about one-third the size of the library additions, and the 4MB also included the compiler and source code. Alone, the version 1.0 libraries were just 1.4MB. Boy, have the Sun engineers in Santa Clara and around t... (more)

Rich User Interfaces

Most Java developers intuitively understand the advantages of using a rich Java Swing user interface instead of an HTML interface. The fact that rich user interfaces provide a better experience for the user has often been cited as the primary reason they should be employed in a particular application. In this article, however, we provide four factors that support the claim that rich user interfaces may be the better choice for many applications - and not just because they provide a better user experience. We begin by illustrating that rich GUIs can be developed and maintained at a ... (more)