CPTTM software developer newsletter issue #5

Topics in this issue:

Using For-Each in Java 5

Java 5 supports a so-called For-Each loop. Here is an example:

public class Foo {
public static void main(String[] args) {
String []names = new String[]{"Paul", "Kent", "Bill"};
for (String name: names) {
System.out.println(name);
}
}
}

The variable "name" will be set to each element in the array in each turn. So in this case it will print the three names in the array. For-each not only works on array, but also on any Collection (e.g., List, Set, Map):

public class Foo {
public static void main(String[] args) {
List objs = new ArrayList();
objs.add("Paul");
objs.add(10);
objs.add(5.4);
for (Object obj: objs) {
System.out.println(obj);
}
}
}
Here the variable "obj" will be set to each element in the List. Got it? Now, click here to take a quiz to see if you have really understood.

Java EE 5 released

The next version of J2EE, Java EE 5, has been released. It includes the following new specifications: JSF 1.2, JSP 2.1, EJB 3.0, JAX-WS. In particular, EJB 3 has incorporated features from Spring such as the use of POJO (Plain Old Java Object) and from Hibernate and TopLink (for storing Java objects into databases).

IDEs for JSF, PHP

Oracle's JDeveloper is another great IDE for Java at no cost. Unlike Eclipse, it supports visual editing of JSF. Check out this tutorial on building a JSF application with it.

You can write PHP code in Eclipse using the PHPeclipse plugin. It allows you to debug your PHP code when it's running in Apache. Check out this tutorial on PHPeclipse debugging.

Preparing for MCAD/MCSD certifications

If you'd like to prepare for the MCAD/MCSD certifications, check out the following books in the MCAD/MCSD Self-Paced Training Kit:

They're all available at the Cyber-Lab Library for borrowing at no charge.

Feedbacks

Have any questions, ideas or experiences regarding software development? Contact me at 781313 or kent at cpttm dot org dot mo.

Until next time, 

Kent Tong