Just over two years ago I started what I consider a career change from Microsoft technologies into the world of Java. I call it a career change because I've had to re-learn almost everything. There are so many frameworks, JSR standards, application servers, patterns, etc. It was a bit overwhelming, especially since I was under pressure to create a new product for a client about 6 months into my learning curve. I had to make a lot of decisions fast, and found that choosing to use JCP/JSR standards almost exclusively greatly simplified the decision making process. Now that I am more experienced in Java EE 5 technologies such as JSF, EJB3, JPA, JAX-WS and JCA, I feel more open to learning other technologies to expand my "toolbelt". I do not regret focusing on Java EE 5 and think that is a real asset on my resume. I recognize that there are places where EE 5 just won't fit, such as the supposed 50% market share that IBM WebSphere has which is STILL stuck on J2EE 1.4.

One of my upcoming home projects will be rather large. One of the first requirements is to build an extensible platform that supports plugins. I was really impressed with how JIRA does plugins (thanks to Struts Action Framework 2.0 aka WebWork) and this is exactly the kind of thing I need. I think this is a good example where JSF isn't the right tool. I love JSF, especially 2.0 with WebBeans, but think it would be good for my career if I have strong skill in at least two frameworks/APIs in every major area. After a lot of thought over the last 6 months, I think I have decided on the following:

Today I ran across a very cool video of a new Cisco technology. The CEO was on stage doing a presentation standing beside the projected image of a co-worker on the other side of the world. It looked and sounded like they were both on stage.

StarWars

Cisco

I'm a regular listener of the NetBeans podcast. At the end of every episode there is a NetBeans Puzzler question about the 6.0 IDE that usually makes you work to find the answer, while learning about a new or obscure feature. I decided to participate for the first time after listening to podcast #36. If there are multiple correct answers then a winner is randomly selected. Luckily I won :) They gave me a choice of four prizes:

1. A NetBeans T-shirt -- I have one already
2. A copy of Adam Myatt's book: "Pro NetBeans IDE 5.5" -- I feel comfortable using the IDE already
3. A 1 gigabyte USB drive -- I have a 1 GB Sun branded USB drive already
4. A copy of the Boudreau/Tulach/Wielenga book: "Rich Client Programming" -- Now this looks interesting!

I chose the RCP book and it arrived yesterday. I have to finish my Sun Certified Java Developer assignment, and read two other books before I'll have time for this one but I will definitely read it. I have been planning on creating a suite of applications based on Java EE 6 technologies in 2008 once I'm moved to Toronto. Part of the suite is a NetBeans plugin.

Since every NetBeans podcast winner seems to take a picture of themselves with their prize for the podcast blog, I have taken one too:

In 2008 I plan to begin developing the first of a suite of applications. In the back of my mind I know that I want to use the GPLv2 or GPLv3 license, although I will read them fully before deciding. I'll also read into other licenses. One of the things that makes me question the GPL is that I read comments in various blogs saying that GPL is a bad choice because businesses jump up onto their chairs or run away quickly when they hear GPL. Why??

Are these "businesses" really programmers or software development companies who are thinking about using a library but can't if it is GPL because their license is not compatible? If that's the case I know LGPL helps, but my applications are not libraries for reuse. I can't think of any reason why a business would not want to use my applications based on which license they use.

The other thing I've been wondering about is this "free as in beer" saying. To me free as in beer == not free. I don't know about you, but I've never gone to the beer store and come home with free beer. What do people mean when they say free as in beer? Free to do whatever you want including re-branding, selling for profit, and not contributing back to the main project? Those are the kinds of things that scare me away from the Apache license. I've head of project owners who are overthrown, lose their commit rights and say in their own creations to "the community". I've also heard conspiracy theories such as how IBM wanted OpenJDK to be Apache licensed so that they could do what they want with it and not contribute back. Even if it's not true, it's a scary thought.