Emails versenden ist ein wichtiger Teil in jeder Web Applikation. Der Email Server ist schnell aufgesetzt und Emails werden versendet. Jedoch kommen diese oftmals nicht an, sondern verschwinden im Spam Ordner. Sendgrid löst beide Probleme. und hat noch einige andere Features zu bieten. Für mich ist jedoch nur eines wichtig: meine Emails müssen verschickt werden und sollen nicht im Spam landen. Sendgrid hilft dabei und ist auch noch günstig.

Um Sendgrid in Rails zu verwenden: einfach

in die environment Datei (e.g. config/environments/development.rb) einfügen. Das wars schon! Mache es den anderen Start ups nach und schicke deine Emails einfach mit Sendgrid.

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I consider this very good news. Engine Yard has always been a very strong force behind Ruby and Rails. They already employ a bunch of very good developers and now they got themselves a bunch of geniuses more. This not only means that JRuby future looks bright, no, it is shining. Thanks JRuby guys and Engine Yard!

As a side note, Nick Sieger is leaving Project Kenai (another product with an uncertain future I guess) and returning to JRuby full time. Ola Bini is still working on JRuby at ThoughtWorks.

Source:

Sun’s JRuby team jumps ship to Engine Yard

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I start with an overview of the new features and then with my personal opinion about the new version. Disclaimer: I am only writing my personal and subjective opinion, I didn’t do any performance tests, measurements, or statistics analysis. So if you have some objections, just leave a comment.

Before we start, I will give you an overview about the new functionality in NB. The slogan for the new release is “Connects Developers” (the slogan for NB 6.5 was “The only IDE you need”). I am not sure if the slogan is a one because only one new feature, the Kenai integration, has something to do with connecting developers:

Connected Developer Tools

• Create Kenai-hosted open source projects directly within the IDE
• Manage your Kenai project and collaborate with like-minded developers
• File issue tracking reports using both Jira and Bugzilla

Java

• Hudson services integration for Ant and Maven projects
• Generated source roots now displayed in the Projects tab
• Struts library migrated to version 1.3.8

Maven

• Library dependency graph viewer
• Improved code completion for Maven plugin parameters
• Support for Java EE, Web Services creation and consumption
• POM Editor and Navigator enhancements

Groovy and Grails

• Out-of-the-box support for Grails 1.1
• Code completion
• Disable browser opening on run and configure platforms to use with Grails projects
• Invoke Grails command or custom script from context menu item

Ruby and Rails

• Remote debugging
• Improvements to Ruby constants support
• Run and debug actions for test cases and suites included in context menu
• Support for Shoulda tests

These are only the most obvious features of NB 6.7, for a full list have a look at the release notes.

So what’s my view on NB 6.7? One thing that stand out, the NB team concentrated on a lot of different things, but not on Java. Of course most technologies are somewhat in the Java realm, but not specific Java. I tried a couple of times to switch my Java development to NB, after all using only one IDE would be nice. However, the Java code editor in NB always felt kind of awkward. In Eclipse I have the feeling the code editor ‘knows’ what I want to do. I mean the NB code editor is good in general, but has a lot of rough edges. Here is an example of what I mean:

NetBeans strikes you down with suggestions, and Eclipse just shows suggestions which are valid to the context.

Another case against Java in NB are missing plugins, e.g. FindBugs. I know there is NB plugin for FindBugs, but is seems fairly outdated. Also tool integration from other companies, e.g. Google GWT and Google APP, doesn’t exist in NB. So I guess NB 6.7 for Java is still a not for me.

Project Kenai is Sun’s Google Code with some extra features for issue tracking and collaboration. Although, it hosts some interesting projects, like JRuby, it is fairly unknown. The new tools allow you to create Kenai hosted open source projects, to collaborate with other developers, and track issues. I played with the tools a little bit and found them ok, but not really exciting. Equal tools are already around.

NetBeans focuses more and more on dynamic languages, like Ruby, PHP, or Groovy. Groovy and Grails are getting really pushed in NetBeans right now. I did some work with both and like them. That said, I am confused about Sun’s strategy. On one hand they push Ruby with JRuby, a lot, on the other hand their only IDE switched focus to Groovy. This is not a problem per se if the Ruby support is already that good, but it still has issues and sadly performance got worse in NB 6.7. My guess is because Groovy is popular in Europe and the core NB team is also in Europe, there is maybe some sympathy towards Groovy.
Supporting a lot of languages is great, but I am not sure if the NetBeans team has enough ressources to fully support all the languages they want. With all the downcuts and the still uncertain future of the Oracle deal, it would better to support less and let the community/partner do the rest. However, getting the community and partner on board was always Sun’s (NetBean’s) weak spot. This is were Eclipse clearly won. A note on the NetBeans RCP, Matt Thompson, Senior Director of Sun’s Developer Cloud Tools, stated the the RCP is now less of an goal. This could backfire when e4 is around.

Like I said I use NetBeans primarily for Ruby on Rails development. NetBeans was and still is the best Ruby on Rails IDE, but it lost its momentum and other IDE aren’t sleeping. The only useful new features for me is the support of the Shoulda framework. Should is an awesome Unit test framework for Rails. Useful, but for me not a feature, is the improved constant support. The rest is like NetBeans 6.5, only slower (and sometimes buggier). A couple of weeks ago NetBeans 6.7 had some serious performance problems (we discussed this in the CAT program). The NB team invested a lot of hard work and fixed many of the problems. But NB 6.7 still feels sluggish compared to NB 6.5 and doesn’t do good on scanning large projects.
Another NB Ruby/Rails caveat, NetBeans includes an outdated version of JRuby, 1.2. The actual version is 1.3.1. So it is probably best to install your own JRuby version and don’t rely on the provided one.

Conclusio

Is NetBeans 6.7 bad? No. Is NetBeans 6.7 good? Maybe, but more like ‘ok’. NetBeans 6.7 gives me the feeling that it includes a lot of features the majority doesn’t need or use (e.g. features on demand which was at the beginning a big deal and now seems just a side feature), and doesn’t care enough about improving existing ones and performance. The results of the NetBeans community survey support my thoughts. For the next version I would wish something like Snow Leopard or Windows 7, a release just to clean and speed up the base.

After this rather neutral/negative review, I want to thank the NetBeans team for their hard work and community involvement. The CAT program allowed me and others to speak up their minds and the NetBeans team listened. As a developer I know that there are a lot decisions and considerations (or politics) the user, which is in this case me, simply doesn’t see. Thanks for NetBeans 6.7 and I am looking forward to the next version.TimeWhale Time Tracking

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With this release, the Java 1.4 support has been dropped. The highlights of the release are:

• Fixes so that JRuby runs in restricted environments better like GAE/J
• Accessing primitive Java arrays are about 10x faster
• timeout.rb is now ~40% faster
• Method cache performance improvements
• irb works in –1.9 mode now
• Additional Miscellaneous 1.9 fixes
• rubygems 1.3.3, rake 0.8.7, and rspec 1.2.6 upgrades
• 66 bugs fixed since 1.2.0

More infos hereTimeWhale Time Tracking

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Jonathan Schwarz, Sun’s CEO,writes that at JavaOne a new project, probably called Java Store (working title “Project Vector”), will be revealed. He writes about including the Google (although Google is not directly mentioned) toolbar in the Java installation process and how Sun made a bunch of money with it. Sun now wants to extend this concept and  to distribute  all kinds of third party applications via the Java update mechanism. Java is widely spread and installed on over a billion devices, hence, a huge potential customer base already exists.  At the moment facts are rare, as far as I know Jonathan’s blog post is the only source. So I guess we have to wait for JavaOne for more concrete information.

At the beginning I wrote about Apple’s and Google’s application stores. However, these I stores are for mobile devices and Java store aims at the desktop (at least at the moment, JavaFX mobile can change the picture). So my guess is Java Store will be (in the long run) more like a package management system, like APT or Ruby Gems. This would be great. Not only is Windows missing this from the beginning, if Java Store follows the write once run everywhere concept, Java Store could be expanded to Mac, Ubuntu, and so forth. Another huge advantage could be jar sharing. There are libraries which are used over and over again (e.g. Apache), with Java store the libraries could be shared between Java applications, similar to Linux application installations. Is this why Sun made its own Project Jigsaw instead of adopting OSGI?

This would be great news for users and developers. Will it happen? Probably not. I am still sceptical about the Sun/Oracle deal and Sun still has to convince developers to jump on the train (which is not a strength of Sun). Still, if it happens it could be just great.TimeWhale Time Tracking

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I really hope that the Oracle/Sun deal doesn’t affect NetBeans in a bad way (maybe in a good way? I am an optimist). I plan to do a full and lengthy coverage of NetBeans 6.7 when a release candidate is here..

Here are the Release Notes of the Beta (full 6.7 here):

• Maven support for the creation of plugins and web services as well as support for POM and J2EE
• Kenai integration enables the creation and editing of Kenai projects from within the IDE
• PHP improvements include Selenium support and SQL code completion
• C++ support for Qt library, remote development and code refactoring

TimeWhale Time Tracking

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I am still not sure what this means to the Java world, but this is big news! However, my first thought was: what happens now to MySQL?

Some links:

http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=16598

http://java.dzone.com/news/oracle-buys-sun

Update:

My second thought: Dies the Java client movement (JavaFX) with this deal?TimeWhale Time Tracking

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Ola Bini series: Java on Google App Engine, JRuby on Rails on Google App Engine, and Dynamic languages on Google App Engine – an overview. This series is just great. Ola talks about the restrictions of the JVM, e.g. some classes are not available and no threads! The very good news, the latest JRuby is already compatible.

Some facts about the JVM used by Google’s App engine Shows which Java version and server GAE/J uses. It seems that Jetty is now used everywhere.

Java on Google App Engine – Time To Play In The Cloud Submitted by James Sugrue

Standards-based Persistence For Java™ Apps On Google App Engine

Thanks to all bloggers for the useful infos.

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Here the cornerstones:

• Tool support based on Eclipse.
• Alternate languages: JRuby, Groovy, and Scala.
• JDO/JPA for Google data store
• Support of popular libraries. I am not sure about this, but I think this will come in the future and is not supported right now.

The Java support is still in a very early phase. Only the first 10.000 developers get access. I have to admit that it is been over half year since I last checked App Engine, but now it is definitely worth a second look. More news will arrive soon and I am pretty sure that on the Google I/O some presentation will be about Google App Engine.

Some other interesting blog posts about App Engine:

• Google App Engine for Java with Rich Ruby clients (recommended!)
• Java on Google App Engine by Ola Bini
• Google App Engine and My Thoughts
• Is Google App Engine Ready for Prime Time?
• Google App Engine 1.1.9 boosts capacity and compatibility

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• Tool support has still a long way to go, but it is getting better (I really like to see this project to succeed)
• The new Applet plugin is living up to its promises.
• I am more and more impressed by the performance of the Java platform, this will also translates to JavaFX’s performance. A real performance comparison between JavaFX, ActionScript, and Silverlight..
• JavaFX.com will be updated! At last the ugly, ajaxy, and buggy page goes away. Hopefully, the next one will be better and shows JavaFX’s capabilities.
• It seems that the Java team is not affected by Sun’s announced staff cuts.
• Release 1.0 contains a JavaFX Mobile prelease.
• The best at last: JavaFX will support Windows and Mac OSX! Linux support is on its way. This is really crucial, JavaFX can only succeed when it supports all major platforms equally.

Still, there are some open issues:

• I am still not convinced about JavaFX script and about the new language. Maybe we will see something similar to JavaFx what now happens to Java – maybe it will become a multiple language platform.
• The community has to accept JavaFX. Company support would also help.
• Development must be faster. Especially at the beginning (JavaFX has a lot to catch up) short release cycles are desireable.
• Sun must implement a clear vision. It seems that they have intern doubts about what to do.

If you live in the San Francisco area, there is a JavaFX release party. Infos are on JavaFX.com. Btw. Java 6 update 11 was release today.

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