scott.hodson.blog

So a recent email thread on the OCJUG mailing list about the book “Beyond Java” and it’s accompanying review about how Java is falling out of favor due to complexity and the ascendence of other languages like Python, Ruby, etc. While I like Java and it was a great leap forward for enterprise development, the enterprise ambitions of those steering the language have forgotten about other developers that want to solve simple problems with simple tools.

So here’s a recent real-life example of some of my frustrations with just trying to get something simple done in Java: base64 encoding across multiple languages

.NET ==> Convert.ToBase64String(byte[])

PHP ==> base64_encode()

Ruby ==> Base64.encode64()

Java ==> Not in core libraries
   Google “Java base64″
   Go through results
   Find some SourceForge thingy
   Is it GPL? Can I put GPL code in this? If no, find some other sample code
   Cut/paste Base64 class into project
   Change class packaging

There’s probably some Apache Commons support for Base64 (HttpConnection?) but I didn’t see it in the Google results and it seems like every time I want to attach some Apache JAR to a project it comes with 3-6 other JARs I have to have and they all have to be the right version.

Sigh…

Need an previous version of some software? Check here.

It appears the alert portion of MSN uses Struts. The URL signup for RSS alerts is

http://signup.alerts.msn.com/alerts/login.do?{etc etc etc}

And the webserver? Netcraft reports it’s Apache 1.3.3 on Windows 2000…freaky.

There’s been a lot of speculation and rumor about what Google Base and what it is. Most of the press reports have supposing that Google is setting up a competitor to Craigslist or eBay, creating an online classifieds list of sorts where you can post your stuff you want to sell into some sort of open marketplace. I think the speculation is off the mark though.

Last week I heard from someone familiar with the innards of Google that Google Base, while it could be used as some sort of classified ads, is really something more generic. Focus on the word “Base” as in “database”. In my opinion, the real competitor of Google Base is Intuit’s Quickbase service.

So, what Google Base really (probably) will become is a way to create and share online databases. Such data could be a local soccer team’s contact list, or a collection of recipes of like-minded food afficionados, etc. Of course, one would hope there are some account and security restrictions so you could define who can see or modify your data, allowing you to create affinity groups around your “base”.

Here’s a stretch: Maybe Google Base could be like blogging for data. Imagine RSS feeds for databases, essentially you could provide database replication/synchronization via RSS assuming your DBMS impements RSS synching, but I digress and I haven’t heard anything of the sort coming out of Google.

Even larger, perhaps, is that Google Base could become something like Yahoo Groups (I use it for OCPatterns), without all of the annoying Yahoo full-page ads. Yahoo Groups has a database section for sharing databases with your group members, but the features aren’t as powerfule as Quickbase. Also, Yahoo Groups, which they acquired by buying eGroups, is pretty darn good in terms of running a group and mail distribution list, but I’ve always been bugged by the amount of banner advertising they have there.

I’ve often thought of building a bigger/better form of Yahoo Groups, but either Yahoo would improve it or Google/Microsoft would some day build one. The fact that Google Base right now, in it’s pre-launch state, requires a GMail account login connotes some form of security or membership requirements to use Google Base. We shall some day see…

My UCI student bro-in-law was trolling through the UCI bookstore the other day and called to tell me that they were having a 25% off sale on all Macs! Having wanted to play with a Mac Mini for some time he picked one up for me for $359 (normally $499 or $479 with the student discount).

Physically, it’s very simple and elegant. Technically, it’s a laptop without an LCD nor a keyboard. It’s very quiet (more quiet than most laptops) and the is powered via an AC adapter/brick you usually see with laptops. At 1.25 GHz it’s not a screamer but it’s sufficient for my non-video file crunching, lightweight development and productivity needs. And I’ve already created a shopping list of peripherals I want to attach to it.

• iDrum to use with Garageband and MIDI-connect my Korg
• eyeTV to kill my TiVo once and for all

I was able to get Java and Eclipse up and running rather quickly. Got some of my favorite PHP/MySQL apps up and running on Apache as well. Having a UNIX core provides some level of comfort and familiarity.