JavaOne

As usual, lots of activity at JavaOne. The main theme this year seems to be a recognition of the fact that scripting languages such a Ruby, Javascript, Groovy and others are enabling rapid deployment of applications and that Java needs to get on board this train. Many sessions dedicated to how to integrate scripting into the Java platform. One thing that got my attention was the Google Web toolkit, which allows developers to write Java code and have that code compiled into Javascript for use in AJAX styled applications. This alleviates the problem that plagues Javascript developers, namely how to maintain and debug their scripts. With the google toolkit, the Java developer can create and maintain Javascript without having to actually program in Javascript! Leave it to the folks at google!