Posts Tagged ‘Hackathons’
[DevoxxFR2013] JCP & Adopt a JSR Workshop
Lecturer
Patrick Curran chairs the Java Community Process (JCP), overseeing membership, processes, and Executive Committee. With over 20 years in software, including 15 at Sun, he led Java Conformance Engineering and chaired related councils. Active in W3C and OASIS.
Arun Gupta directs Developer Advocacy at Red Hat, focusing on JBoss Middleware. A Java EE founding member at Sun, he drove global adoption; at Oracle, he launched Java EE 7.
Mike Seghers, an IT consultant since 2001, specializes in Java enterprise web apps using frameworks like Spring, JSF. Experienced in RIA and iOS, he engages developer communities.
Abstract
Patrick Curran, Arun Gupta, and Mike Seghers’s workshop guides joining the Java Community Process (JCP) and participating in Adopt-a-JSR. They explain membership, transparency, and tools for JUG involvement like hackathons. Focusing on Java EE 8, the session analyzes collaboration benefits, demonstrating practical contributions for standard evolution.
Understanding JCP: Membership and Participation Pathways
Curran outlines JCP membership: free for individuals via jcp.org, requiring agreements; paid for corporations/non-profits ($2,000-$5,000). Java User Groups join as associates, nominating representatives.
Adopt-a-JSR encourages JUGs to engage JSRs: review specs, test implementations, provide feedback. This democratizes development, ensuring community input.
Gupta details Java EE 8 focus: HTML5, cloud, modularity. Adopt-a-JSR aids via mailing lists, issue trackers, wikis.
Practical Engagement: Tools and Initiatives for Collaboration
Tools include mailing lists for discussions, JIRA for bugs, GitHub for code. JUGs organize hack days, building samples.
Seghers demos Belgian JUG’s app: uses JSF, EJB, JPA for urban travelers game. Source on GitHub, integrates WebSockets.
This hands-on approach educates, uncovers issues early.
Case Studies: Global Adopt-a-JSR Impact
Examples: London JUG’s multiple JSR contributions; SouJava’s CDI focus; Morocco JUG’s hackathons. Chennai JUG built apps; Egypt JUG presented at conferences.
These illustrate visibility, skill-building, influence on standards.
Broader Implications: Enhancing Transparency and Community
JCP 2.8 mandates open Expert Groups, encouraging participation. Adopt-a-JSR amplifies this, benefiting platforms via diverse input.
Curran urges minimal commitments: feedback, testing. Gupta highlights launch opportunities.
Workshop fosters collaborative ecosystem, strengthening Java’s future.
Links:
[DevoxxBE2012] 7 Things: How to Make Good Teams Great
Sven Peters, an Atlassian ambassador with over a decade in Java EE development and team leadership, shared strategies for elevating competent teams to exceptional levels. Sven, passionate about clean code and developer motivation, drew from Atlassian’s experiences to outline seven practices fostering innovation and productivity while sustaining focus on quality products.
He opened by challenging assumptions about agile methodologies, observing that some self-proclaimed agile teams underperform, while certain traditional ones excel. Sven emphasized that true greatness transcends labels, requiring deliberate actions to boost morale and efficiency.
Atlassian, known for tools like Jira and Confluence, exemplifies these principles through an open culture that values feedback and experimentation. Sven warned that while inspiring, these methods must adapt to individual contexts, with readiness to iterate based on outcomes.
Enhancing Focus and Flow
Sven advocated protecting developers’ concentration, introducing “do not disturb” periods where interruptions halt, allowing deep work. At Atlassian, engineers signal availability with signs, reducing context switches that hinder productivity.
He stressed feeding intellectual curiosity via learning opportunities, such as internal talks or external conferences. These sessions, often during lunch, cover diverse topics, sparking ideas and cross-team collaboration.
Appreciating efforts, even minor ones, builds positivity. Sven described Atlassian’s kudos system, where peers publicly recognize contributions, reinforcing a supportive environment.
Automating Insights and User Empathy
To streamline oversight, Sven recommended automated reports aggregating metrics like code commits and bug fixes. These dashboards provide quick overviews without manual effort, freeing time for creative tasks.
“Dogfooding”—using one’s own products internally—bridges gaps between creators and users. At Atlassian, this uncovers issues early, fostering empathy and better designs. Sven shared how it led to improvements in their tools.
Sparking Innovation Through Dedicated Time
Special days, like “ShipIt” events, tackle backlog items in focused bursts. Atlassian’s 24-hour hackathons encourage wild ideas, with voting and implementation for winners, injecting fun and progress.
Experimentation time, such as 20% personal projects, drives breakthroughs. Sven recounted how this birthed features like Jira’s rapid boards, enhancing products while empowering staff.
He rated these practices’ feasibility and impact, urging measured trials to gauge effectiveness.
Adapting and Measuring Success
Sven concluded by encouraging experimentation, acknowledging failures as learning opportunities. Atlassian’s disbanded innovation team taught that distributed creativity works better.
He advised time-boxing initiatives, tracking results, and customizing approaches. Being distinctive in practices attracts and retains talent in a competitive field.
Sven’s insights, rooted in real-world application, offer a blueprint for transforming solid teams into outstanding ones through intentional, adaptive strategies.