I really like how Lift's 'template' engine works.  In short, you define XML tags that map to a Class and Method for execution.  For instance, a basic HTML template looks like:<lift:MyClass.myMethod> <div>Hello, <my:name/>. Welcome to my sample web app</div></lift:MyClass.myMethod>This will result in the myMethod function on MyClass being called, which can then...

For the Dojo devotees, a brand new version of their JavaScript framework is now available.  Dojo Toolkit 1.5 features a UI overhaul, widely compatible core, more HTML5/CSS3 support, and several mobile initiatives.

JBoss delivered the final version of its Hibernate 3.5.4 maintenance release this week along with the first beta of 3.6, which adds some new features.  First of all, 3.6 will drop support for JDK 1.4.  It will also merge some modules into the core (specifically hibernate-jmx and hibernate-annotations).  Several limitations will also be fixed in Hibernate 3.6.KDevelop Releases 1st Patch for 4.0

JetBrains pulled out a hat-trick this week with a triple release of its flagship IDE, IntelliJ IDEA, its CI server, TeamCity, and its lightweight Python IDE, PyCharm.  TeamCity and IntelliJ got small version updates, while PyCharm had a bigger milestone with its first 1.0 Beta release.  Lets look at the highlights for each release:IntelliJ IDEA 9.0.3

Dear Reader,Recently I decided to consolidate all of the custom and reusable controls I had created in Flex into a single library. Even as good as Eclipse is at refactoring (one of the things it actually does well) it still wasn’t was clear cut of a procedure as I had hoped for.Step 1: Create the libraryAs with everything in Flash Builder 4, creating a new library is just a matter of...

JavaScript is becoming a complex environment, and often not only presentation logic but also business one is moved to it for a faster response to the end user (without having data gone for a round trip on the server in order to be validated.) In some cases, JavaScript is even used on the server side, such as in CouchDb views, or in the Persevere object store.Thus, we should start treating...

The newly released Lightspark 0.4.2 is another alternative implementation of the Flash Player (others include Smokescreen and Gordon) that is designed to be efficient on current hardware.  Changes in this release include plugin support for Chrome, and support for Firefox's OOPP mode.  Just remember that the proliferation of these SWF players wouldn't be possible if Adobe hadn't made the...

Today marks the release of Apache FOP 1.0, an open source XSL Formatting Objects Processor.  Donated in 1999, FOP is one of the industry's first print formatters driven by the W3C's standard XSL-FO.  It is also one of the most common output-independent formatters.  With the release of FOP 1.0 and the recent addition of Apache Xerces 2.10, the Apache XML Stack (FOP, Xerces, and Xalan) is...

We all know how important form validation is. Users must provide required information, users must provide information in specific format, user must... Right. But imagine the scenario in which user saves a form even if validation fails. That is, when inappropriate formats are provided or required fields are left blank. Sounds ridiculous? To kill validation? Well, no - we just might rethink...

In this series we have seen two Web presentation patterns so far:

The first of JBoss RichFaces 4.0's monthly milestones was released this week.  RichFaces 4.0 is going to provide full support for the Java EE 6 JSF 2.0 specification, while the current version, 3.3.3, has partial JSF 2.0 support and partial backwards support.  The first milestone includes an improved CDK, New components (jQuery, togglePanel, etc.), and named queue support for the queue...

Adobe Flex 4 provides a lot of new features including a component architecture, CSS improvements, MX backward compatibility, new state mechanisms, and a new graphic markup language called FXG. Along with the Flex 4 SDK, Adobe Flash Builder 4 has improvements to help with developing with Flex 4. Migrating Flex 3 applications to Flex 4 can seem like a large task.

ColdFusion can make web development much more productive.  Integrating CF development and debugging with Mylyn can add even more productivity through the task-focused interface.  Dipanwita Sarkar takes you through several examples in this presentation.Dipanwita Sarkar is a software engineer for Adobe.  She works on the ColdFusion builder project and attends conferences often to talk about the...

Dear Reader,Those of you who follow me on twitter (@calevans) know that recently I asked for opinions on conference attendance. I’ve collected what I learned in this blog post.References Reference:  An entirely unscientific look at why people attend conferences. Mitchell Pronsc... ...

The concept of Java Server Pages is simple: submerge Java code and some special directives into an HTML page to add dynamic capabilities to it. Obviously, this process can go out of hand when complex logic scatters into an untestable JSP, with operations like database querying deeply coupled to HTML generation.

At today's annual ASF members meeting, the attendees voted for the next board of directors.  Returning board members include Doug Cutting, Roy T. Fielding, Shane Curcuru, Greg Stein, and Jim Jagielski the chairman.  New members include Bertrand Delacretaz (served from '08 to '09), IBM's Sam Ruby, Google's Noirin Shirley, and Amazon's Henri Yandell.Project Northstar Takes IBM's Portal Sofware in...

One of the main advantages of Flash video over HTML5 video is the larger ecosystem behind Flash.  The Open Source Media Framework is one project that Ben Farrell is keeping an eye on.  It lets you add in analytics and advertisements, for example, right out of the box.  All you have to do is add video and your UI.  Farrell is currently working on his own open source project that imports and...

We have seen that Page Controllers (or, with their alternate intent and name, Action Controllers), are the basic units that get to respond to HTTP requests. But since we have many Page Controllers, how can we distinguish between them and make everyone answer a different type of HTTP request?

I came across a little code the other day that reminded me I’ve been meaning to write about JavaScript patterns I take for granted. The code in question was intended to set the value of some fields in a form when a checkbox was selected; when it was deselected, the same fields were to be emptied. It looked not unlike this:// config is defined outside of this snippet,// and may contain more...

Spring Roo 1.1 M2 and STS 2.3.3 M2 were simultaneously released this week with hundreds of bugfixes and enhancements since milestone one.  Spring Roo 1.1 M2 has increased its performance by a factor of three and gained better GWT support by eliminating the GWT 2.1 "bikeshed" JAR.  There is also integration test support for GAE and improved shell usability.  One of the biggest new...