Posts Tagged ‘DevoxxUS2017’
[DevoxxUS2017] JavaScript: The New Parts by Joshua Wilson
At DevoxxUS2017, Joshua Wilson, a lead UI developer at Red Hat, delivered an illuminating session on ECMAScript 2015 (ES6) and its transformative features for JavaScript development. With a background transitioning from Java to front-end engineering, Joshua guided attendees through ES6’s modern syntax, including arrow functions, modules, and classes. His presentation offered practical insights for developers seeking to enhance their web development skills. This post explores the core themes of Joshua’s talk, focusing on ES6’s impact on coding elegance and productivity.
Embracing ES6 Features
Joshua Wilson began by introducing key ES6 features, such as arrow functions, which simplify syntax for function expressions, and let and const for block-scoped variables, enhancing code clarity. He demonstrated transforming legacy JavaScript into concise ES6 code, emphasizing improved readability. Drawing from his work at Red Hat, Joshua highlighted how these features streamline UI development, making JavaScript more approachable for developers accustomed to Java’s structure.
Modules and Classes for Modern Development
Delving deeper, Joshua explored ES6 modules, which enable better code organization and dependency management, contrasting them with older CommonJS approaches. He showcased ES6 classes, offering a familiar syntax for Java developers to create object-oriented structures. Joshua addressed challenges like handling null and undefined, noting ES6’s limited improvements but suggesting tools like TypeScript for stricter type safety, aligning with his focus on robust front-end solutions.
Practical Applications and Tooling
Joshua emphasized practical applications, demonstrating how ES6 integrates with build tools like Webpack for seamless module handling. He highlighted ES7’s Array.includes method for improved array searching, addressing edge cases like NaN. His insights, grounded in real-world UI projects at Red Hat, encouraged developers to adopt modern JavaScript practices, leveraging transpilers to ensure compatibility while embracing ES6’s expressive power.
Navigating the JavaScript Ecosystem
Concluding, Joshua encouraged developers to explore the evolving JavaScript ecosystem, recommending resources like Mozilla Developer Network (MDN) for learning ES6. His passion for front-end development inspired attendees to experiment with new syntax, enhancing their ability to craft dynamic, user-friendly interfaces with confidence.
Links:
[DevoxxUS2017] Mobycraft: Manage Docker Containers Using Minecraft by Arun Gupta
At DevoxxUS2017, Arun Gupta, Vice President of Developer Advocacy at Couchbase, presented an innovative project called Mobycraft, a Minecraft client-side mod designed to manage Docker containers. Collaborating with his son, Aditya Gupta, Arun showcased how this mod transforms container management into an engaging, game-based experience, particularly for younger audiences learning Java and Docker fundamentals. This post delves into the key aspects of Arun’s session, highlighting how Mobycraft bridges gaming and technology education.
Engaging Young Minds with Docker
Arun Gupta introduced Mobycraft as a creative fusion of Minecraft’s interactive environment and Docker’s container management capabilities. Developed as a father-son project, the mod allows users to execute Docker commands like /docker ps and /docker run within Minecraft. Arun explained how containers are visualized as color-coded boxes, with interactive elements like start/stop buttons and status indicators. This approach, rooted in Aditya’s passion for Minecraft modding, makes complex Docker concepts accessible and fun, fostering early exposure to DevOps principles.
Technical Implementation and Community Contribution
Arun detailed Mobycraft’s technical foundation, built on Minecraft Forge for Minecraft 1.8, using the docker-java library to interface with Docker hosts. The mod supports multiple providers, including local Docker hosts, Docker for Mac, and Netflix’s Titus, leveraging Guice for dependency injection to ensure flexibility. Arun encouraged community contributions through code reviews and pull requests on the GitHub repository, emphasizing its educational potential and inviting developers to enhance features like Swarm visualization.
Links:
[DevoxxUS2017] Lessons Learned from Building Hyper-Scale Cloud Services Using Docker by Boris Scholl
At DevoxxUS2017, Boris Scholl, Vice President of Development for Microservices at Oracle, shared valuable lessons from building hyper-scale cloud services using Docker. With a background in Microsoft’s Service Fabric and Container Service, Boris discussed Oracle’s adoption of Docker, Mesos/Marathon, and Kubernetes for resource-efficient, multi-tenant services. His session offered insights into architecture choices and DevOps best practices, providing a roadmap for scalable cloud development. This post examines the key themes of Boris’s presentation, highlighting practical strategies for modern cloud services.
Adopting Docker for Scalability
Boris Scholl began by outlining Oracle’s shift toward cloud services, leveraging Docker to build scalable, multi-tenant applications. He explained how Docker containers optimize resource consumption, enabling rapid service deployment. Drawing from his experience at Oracle, Boris highlighted the pros of containerization, such as portability, and cons, like the need for robust orchestration, setting the stage for discussing advanced DevOps practices.
Orchestration with Mesos and Kubernetes
Delving into orchestration, Boris discussed Oracle’s use of Mesos/Marathon and Kubernetes to manage containerized services. He shared lessons learned, such as the importance of abstracting container management to avoid platform lock-in. Boris’s examples illustrated how orchestration tools ensure resilience and scalability, enabling Oracle to handle hyper-scale workloads while maintaining service reliability.
DevOps Best Practices for Resilience
Boris emphasized the critical role of DevOps in running “always-on” services. He advocated for governance to manage diverse team contributions, preventing architectural chaos. His insights included automating CI/CD pipelines and prioritizing diagnostics for monitoring. Boris shared a lesson on avoiding over-reliance on specific orchestrators, suggesting abstraction layers to ease transitions between platforms like Mesos and Kubernetes.
Governance and Future-Proofing
Concluding, Boris stressed the importance of governance in distributed systems, drawing from Oracle’s experience in maintaining component versioning and compatibility. He recommended blogging as a way to share microservices insights, referencing his own posts. His practical advice inspired developers to adopt disciplined DevOps practices, ensuring cloud services remain scalable, resilient, and adaptable to future needs.
Links:
[DevoxxUS2017] Running a Successful Open Source Project by Wayne Beaton and Gunnar Wagenknecht
At DevoxxUS2017, Wayne Beaton and Gunnar Wagenknecht, key figures in the Eclipse Foundation and Salesforce respectively, shared their expertise on nurturing successful open-source projects. Wayne, Director of Open Source Projects at Eclipse, and Gunnar, a prolific Eclipse contributor, discussed strategies for building vibrant communities around code. Their session covered licensing, contributor engagement, and intellectual property management, offering actionable advice for open-source leaders. This post explores the core themes of their presentation, emphasizing community-driven success.
Building a Community Around Code
Wayne Beaton opened by emphasizing that an open-source project thrives on its community, not just its code. He discussed the importance of selecting an appropriate license to encourage adoption and contributions. Wayne shared Eclipse Foundation’s practices, such as electronic contributor agreements, to streamline participation. His insights, drawn from decades of open-source involvement, highlighted the need for clear communication to attract users, adopters, and developers.
Engaging Contributors and Managing Contributions
Gunnar Wagenknecht focused on fostering contributor engagement, drawing from his experience at Salesforce and Eclipse. He advocated for tools like GitHub to monitor contributions and track project health. Gunnar emphasized creating welcoming environments for new contributors, sharing examples of Eclipse’s infrastructure for managing intellectual property and community feedback. His practical tips encouraged project leaders to prioritize inclusivity and transparency.
Navigating Intellectual Property and Foundations
Wayne and Gunnar explored the complexities of intellectual property management, including trademarks and contributor agreements. They discussed the benefits of affiliating with a foundation like Eclipse, which provides governance and infrastructure support. Comparing Eclipse’s processes with those of Apache and Oracle, they highlighted how foundations simplify legal and operational challenges, enabling projects to focus on innovation.
Tools and Practices for Sustainability
Concluding, Wayne and Gunnar recommended tools for monitoring contributions, such as dashboards used by companies like Microsoft. They emphasized the importance of governance to prevent “anarchy” in multi-team projects. Their insights, grounded in real-world experiences, inspired attendees to adopt structured yet flexible approaches to sustain open-source projects, leveraging community-driven innovation for long-term success.
Links:
[DevoxxUS2017] 55 New Features in JDK 9: A Comprehensive Overview
At DevoxxUS2017, Simon Ritter, Deputy CTO at Azul Systems, delivered a detailed exploration of the 55 new features in JDK 9, with a particular focus on modularity through Project Jigsaw. Simon, a veteran Java evangelist, provided a whirlwind tour of the enhancements, categorizing them into features, standards, JVM internals, specialized updates, and housekeeping changes. His presentation equipped developers with the knowledge to leverage JDK 9’s advancements effectively. This post examines the key themes of Simon’s talk, highlighting how these features enhance Java’s flexibility, performance, and maintainability.
Modularity and Project Jigsaw
The cornerstone of JDK 9 is Project Jigsaw, which introduces modularity to the Java platform. Simon explained that the traditional rt.jar file, containing over 4,500 classes, has been replaced with 94 modular components in the jmods directory. This restructuring encapsulates private APIs, such as sun.misc.Unsafe, to improve security and maintainability, though it poses compatibility challenges for libraries relying on these APIs. To mitigate this, Simon highlighted options like the --add-exports and --add-opens flags, as well as a “big kill switch” (--permit-illegal-access) to disable modularity for legacy applications. The jlink tool further enhances modularity by creating custom runtimes with only the necessary modules, optimizing deployment for specific applications.
Enhanced APIs and Developer Productivity
JDK 9 introduces several API improvements to streamline development. Simon showcased factory methods for collections, allowing developers to create immutable collections with concise syntax, such as List.of() or Set.of(). The Streams API has been enhanced with methods like takeWhile, dropWhile, and ofNullable, improving expressiveness in data processing. Additionally, the introduction of jshell, an interactive REPL, enables rapid prototyping and experimentation. These enhancements reduce boilerplate code and enhance developer productivity, making Java more intuitive and efficient for modern application development.
JVM Internals and Performance
Simon delved into JVM enhancements, including improvements to the G1 garbage collector, which is now the default in JDK 9. The G1 collector offers better performance for large heaps, addressing limitations of the Concurrent Mark Sweep collector. Other internal improvements include a new process API for accessing operating system process details and a directive file for controlling JIT compiler behavior. These changes enhance runtime efficiency and provide developers with greater control over JVM performance, ensuring Java remains competitive for high-performance applications.
Housekeeping and Deprecations
JDK 9 includes significant housekeeping changes to streamline the platform. Simon highlighted the new version string format, adopting semantic versioning (major.minor.security.patch) for clearer identification. The directory structure has been flattened, eliminating the JRE subdirectory and tools.jar, with configuration files centralized in the conf directory. Deprecated APIs, such as the applet API and certain garbage collection options, have been removed to reduce maintenance overhead. These changes simplify the JDK’s structure, improving maintainability while requiring developers to test applications for compatibility.
Standards and Specialized Features
Simon also covered updates to standards and specialized features. The HTTP/2 client, introduced as an incubator module, allows developers to test and provide feedback before it becomes standard. Other standards updates include support for Unicode 8.0 and the deprecation of SHA-1 certificates for enhanced security. Specialized features, such as the annotations pipeline and parser API, improve the handling of complex annotations and programmatic interactions with the compiler. These updates ensure Java aligns with modern standards while offering flexibility for specialized use cases.