Geek 2.0

It is now a tradition, the last day of JavaONE, James Gosling is presenting some cool stuffs that you are doing with the Java platform and Java programming language.

We had once again a quick presentation of Matisse, the next generation GUI builder based on the work of the Netbeans team, the SwingLab team and the open-source community. This is aligned with one of our top goal : simplify the life of developers.

The demo was based on Joplin, the open-source, iTunes-like, music player. Check it out today !

We also had a great demonstration of the Java Mobility Pack, a plug-in extension of Netbeans allowing to develop Java ME applications. The cool stuff is that we can now debug applications on the device itself, putting breakpoints, stepping into the code and watching variable, not on the emulator, no, on the device itself !

Did you ever dream to have breakpoints in your pocket ?

Finally, Boeing demonstrated their Scan Eagle unmanned vehicle (airplane without pilot). This is a small airplane primarly designed for military purpose. This stuff is drived by a Java program, running an on board implementation of Java Real-Time System. It receives instruction from the on board GPS system and ground-based flight control. Communication with the ground is made through real-time CORBA communication.

Real-time is the key here, the pilot can not pause 1 sec for garbage collection.

You can read James’ own blog on the subject