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Norman Richards's Blog

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Seam Webinar

Posted by norman.richards Jun 7, 2006
Just as a reminder, I'm doing to do a Seam webinar today. I'm going to talk about the Seam component model and how it can simplify the architecture of Java EE applications. I'm not going to dive deep into code or walk through an application, instead I will show how Seam's rich component model (state, behavior and events) makes for simpler applications than the simple stateless model that is unfortunate focus of most current web architectures. You need to register to attend.

 

Episode 32 of Java Posse features a great interview with Gavin King on Seam. If you haven't had an introduction to Seam, this is absolutely the best introduction you can get if you want to know what Seam is about without getting bogged down in the technical details. And, if you aren't yet listening to the Java Posse, you should subscribe now. It's been one of my favorite podcasts for quite some time.

 

The JBoss book market has taken a very positive turn this year, with several quality JBoss titles being released. This month, we another great O'Reilly title: JBoss at Work. I had a chance to review early drafts of the book, and I think Tom and Scott have done a good job with it. It's a great introduction to J2EE development on JBoss, and I definitely recommend taking a look at it if you are planning to start a new JBoss project or are looking to migrate an existing J2EE project from another application server.

 

Several people have asked how JBoss at Work compares to JBoss; A Developer's Notebook. The books are quite complimentary. With the notebook, you get a fast paced, bare bones "how can I make my app work on JBoss" book. JBoss at Work, on the other hand, is a bit more comprehensive and tries to explain more of the big picture of application development in JBoss. If you found the JBoss notebook a little too fast or need a bit more guidance on how to architect an application in JBoss, you'll enjoy JBoss at Work.

 

If you have any doubts, JBoss at Work should be on the shelves of your local bookstore by now. Go check it out.

 

Our EJB3 implementation has been out for a while, and the team has done a really great job of providing EJB3 documentation. Our EJB3 TrailBlazer provided live running EJB3 code, but we didn't really have a good example of a complete application until a few weeks ago when we released the DVD Store Demo at LinuxWorld as part of the Dell partnership. The source code is available for download so you can have a complete application to use to play with EJB3.

 

To build on that, I've put together DVD Store TrailBlazer to show how the application works. It's not a step-by-step tutorial for building an EJB3 application. Instead, it's a layer-by-layer description of the architecture to help show the moving pieces of an EJB3 application fit together. If you've been thinking about getting your hands dirty with EJB3, but need something more than a few isolated example beans, you should check it out.

 

JBoss is the easiest application server to install. You can have a server up and running in less than minute. Download, unzip and run - the install process has always been just that simple. However, in 4.0.3 we've added another installation option - a GUI installer.

 

The first question has to be: why? You can't get any simpler than the current process, so why add the mouse clicks? There are a couple of good reasons. The first reason is to make the customization of JBoss even simpler. When you download JBoss, you are given three standard configurations: minimal, default and all. The standard configurations work well, but you almost always want to customize the set of services before deployment. It's not hard, but it does require a good bit of homework to know what to do. With the GUI installer, you can click to select the services you want and have the server set up exactly like you want it from the start.

 

If you don't want to pick and choose, you can still choose one of the standard install images. In fact, you'll even see some knew options in the installer. We now have a standard EJB3 install image available for EJB3 development. You can expect to see more custom install sets in the future to allow you to more easily put the face you want onto your server.

 

Finally, we're adding post installation tasks to the server. In the 4.0.3RC1 installer, we've started with security. The installer can secure the JBoss management interfaces, providing a more secure out of the box experience. You can expect to see more work done in this area in the future.

 

We have a demo of the new installer if you want to see how it works. Otherwise, just download it and give it a run. If an executable JAR isn't easy enough, try the web start version. One click will download and run the installer. You'll have a full custom install in just a few minutes.

JBoss 4.0 - The Official Guide is in print and should be available in the next few days for those of you who have been asking for print documentation. Sams has done an incredible job with the layout and design, and the book looks sharp. Keep an eye out for it at your local bookstore. If you want to order directly from the publisher, the coupon code SAMS-06-J30 should be good for a 30% discount through June.

 

If you are planning to upgrade a JBoss 3.2 installation to JBoss 4.0, you'll want to check out the <a JBoss 4 upgrade guide. Michael Yuan has covered the major issues you'll see in the upgrade process. We've also updated the Application Server Guide, adding chapters on J2EE web services and Hibernate.

 

We'll have an update of the Getting Started guide later this week, so keep an eye on the docs page.

For those who have been eagerly awaiting full documentation for JBoss 4, I've posted the first release of the JBoss 4 Application Server Guide. Please use the documentation forum for comments, suggestions and corrections. We'll be trying to keep this current with the actual releases, so keep an eye on the documentation page for future updates.
If you've been wondering why you should look at JBoss AS 4.0, check out the new What's new in JBoss 4.0 document Michael Yuan just wrote. It goes over the new features of JBoss 4 at a high level and shows you what you can expect from our open source J2EE 1.4 certified application server.

 

With JBoss 4.0 being released this weekend, I've update Getting Started with JBoss guide for the new release. If you are brand new to JBoss and don't know your way around, then the getting started guide is a great place to learn the basics. If you have any problems with the new guide or suggestions on how to make it better, post a message to the forums.

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