A typical Java developer knows that when you need to develop a GUI for a Java application, Swing is the tool. Eclipse SWT also has a number of followers, but the majority of people use Java Swing. For the past 10 years, it was a given that Swing development wouldn't be easy; you have to master working with the event-dispatch thread, GridBaglayout, and the like. Recently, the NetBeans team created a nice GUI designer called Matisse, which was also ported to MyEclipse. Prior to Matisse, JBuilder had the best Swing designer, but it was too expensive. Now a good designer comes with NetBeans for free.

Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) is a hot topic among analysts, CIOs, and technology marketers, but the path from high-level architectural principles to programming a functioning, real-world service isn't always clear, especially since, in the end, you still need to create a clean user interface that's as flexible as the services it consumes.

In concurrent programming, exclusion refers to any technique that dynamically locks certain blocks of code so multiple threads can't corrupt their shared resources in ways that can cause integrity problems. In Java, exclusion has meant using the synchronized keyword against a method or block of code to control access to an object's lock.

Open Source Business Intelligence software is finally coming into its own, with three major players coming to the fore: JasperReports, Pentaho, and BIRT (Business Intelligence and reporting tools). Business Intelligence technology comprises solutions for delivering enterprise data in the form of customizable reports, facilitating such practices as data mining and decision support systems. Of the three leading projects, both JasperReports and BIRT are commercial Open Source; they are backed by JasperSoft and BI veteran Actuate respectively. Pentaho uses the more traditional collaborative Open Source model. One of BIRT's distinguishing features is that it's an official Eclipse project, giving it a strong endorsement by one of the leading forces in the Java community. Our team chose BIRT after some due diligence on the other two because of our prior experience with Actuate and deep appreciation of all things Eclipse.

JavaServer Faces (JSF) standardizes the server-side component model for Web application development but doesn't standardize the presentation layer at the browser. In a series of articles we are going to look at how JSF can fulfill new presentation requirements without sacrificing application developer productivity building Rich Internet Applications (RIA). AJAX has gained momentum primarily due to the XMLHttpRequest browser object, which supports asynchronous communication with any business services used by the Web application. Popular sites such as Google Mail and Google Suggest use AJAX to deliver RIA.

Jakarta Struts provides a standard framework for Web applications, and JavaServer Faces offers a component-based framework for user interfaces. At the user interface, a common task in both frameworks is selecting items from lists. Over the years, standard design patterns have been developed for selection lists. For developers, the advantage of implementing these standard patterns is that they are readily available and offer a familiar user experience.

Today's trend is to integrate existing systems in a standard way to make disparate implementations interoperate. Web Services and XML came along with the ability to provide a standard communication interface between these systems, as well as the standard description language - WSDL - the Web Services Description Language that lets those systems define the structure of the services they're providing.

Browser-based applications are widely used and we like the fact that we can access them from anywhere. But from the users' perspective, the productivity level of Web applications still doesn't approximate the productivity of desktop programs. The good news is the gap is closing: the accumulated potential of multiple technologies has boosted a whole new breed of HTML-based apps that are as powerful as the desktop ones. Meet AJAX.

Web sites were originally static. Later dynamic content came about through CGI scripts paving the way for the first true Web applications. Since HTTP was entirely stateless, it became necessary to invent ways for requests to be linked together in a sequence. At first state was added to the URLs, but later the cookie concept came into being. By giving each user a special token, the server could maintain a context for each user, the HTTP session where the application can store state. As simple as it is, the HTTP session defines the entire concept of what a Web application is today.

This article aims to illustrate how loose coupling of a Model in an MVC-based framework can be achieved by describing a real example - developing a framework for a Web-based XSD-XML generator, which is part of the Event Web research at the Infospheres Lab at Caltech. Why this is important is explained, along with a description of the various techniques used to accomplish the goal. Examples include: how a Model can be initiated in a modular manner; how to add dynamic properties to a Model without polluting the Model base classes; how to change the Model without affecting its existing operations; how the Model can be switched during runtime without affecting interactions with other components; how all these can be done if the Model is complex as in a DOM structure and is generated dynamically.

During the beta period for JDK 1.5, we worked on a 1.5 Java compiler for BEA's Java IDE. As we implemented various new features, people would begin exploiting them in new ways, some clever, some clearly candidates for a list of what not to do. The compiler itself used 1.5 features, so we gained direct experience in maintaining 1.5 code as well.

Whether writing code for a small, single-platform environment or contributing to a sophisticated cross-platform, multi-language application, one truth remains consistent: a disorganized or poorly implemented build management strategy will adversely affect a developer's workflow.

In this month's article I introduce TableLayout, a robust but easy-to-use LayoutManager for use in any Java Swing application. It's based very loosely on the HTML TABLE paradigm, where components are placed in table cells in row-major order. Vertical and horizontal alignment for the component in a cell can be specified, and a component (cell) may span rows and columns. I also present Forms-Panel, a JPanel sub-class that abstracts the underlying TableLayout.

AJAX and JMX are at opposite ends of the Systems Management stack. However, the emerging ubiquity of the AJAX model for rich browser clients has obscured the benefits the model provides in the architectural space for enhancing support patterns within the problem resolution pipeline.

While creational patterns decouple a client from the objects it instantiates, behavioral patterns dictate the object interaction. If not carefully planned, coupling and cohesion can pose major design issues. My previous article, 'Java GoF Creational Design Patterns' (JDJ, Vol. 9, issue 9), discussed creational patterns. This article will focus on behavioral patterns.

Like most other self-respecting developers I had also read the GoF book 'Design Patterns,' including the section on the visitor pattern. However, when a colleague came over to me with a question, I could not initially justify the complexity of the example code I saw in the book. What follows is a discussion of why the visitor pattern is the way it is.