The deep heap

Keeping it real in a surreal world

2011-03-20T23:11:00.012-04:00

With tsunamis, melting nuclear power plants and Mayan prophecies aligning perfectly, the surreal is becoming real these days. Meanwhile, back in Javaland, I’m still sorting out the real from the surreal as I digest the 2011 edition of the server side Java symposium I checked out last week. I got my dose of promising ideas that will create real technologies in the next 12 months. I also got a

The cloud: what it is and what it ain't

2011-01-24T22:19:00.017-05:00

Cloud computing is a software engineering revolution. But what about all that buzz: are you excited, confused or annoyed? The cloud is first and foremost a blend of ideological and technological movements converging at the right place and time (which makes it all the more exciting, confusing and annoying). In this article, I'll dissect what this hot air is really all about. Just as importantly,

The Server Side Java Symposium

2010-03-20T01:52:00.010-04:00

Well, the 2010 edition of Server Side Java Symposium in Las Vegas is over. This was one of the better editions I've attended. Lots of interesting things are happening in the Java world right now. Things like, cloud computing, cloud services, REST-based web services, and functional language that ride atop the JVM.I found that the look and feel of this franchise has evolved since it first began in

The Server Side Java Symposium - Day III

2010-03-20T00:09:00.006-04:00

Day III started with a Rod Johnson keynote on What's new in Spring 3.0. Rod was the one the key establishment disturber (establishment being Sun/J2EE) circa 2003 with his widely popular Spring framework. He made a name for himself in publicly denouncing the bloat, complexity and productivity killer of the old J2EE spec and offered Spring as an alternative. Now, many of those ideas found in Spring

The Server Side Java Symposium - day II

2010-03-18T22:54:00.005-04:00

Day II at the Server Side Java Symposium started with the Oracle-sponsored keynote presenting Oracle's cloud story. This type of audience, made up mostly of truth seeking developers and architects, has little tolerance for vendor-sponsored presentations who skew the truth in their favour. In all fairness though, the presenter did a good job of presenting the state of the SOA, grid/cloud computing

The Server Side Java Symposium 2010 - Day I

2010-03-17T23:50:00.008-04:00

The 2010 edition The Server Side Java Symposium began today in Las Vegas. This is the 8th edition. Having attended four of eight, I find this franchise always has its finger on the the pulse of the java community. Judging from the focus this year, the community is buzzing over cloud computing. This is good news because it means that we have moved away from the previous obsessions. Back in 2004,

Being Joe the software plumber

2008-11-08T10:52:00.032-05:00

Infrastructure is to software what plumbing is to a house. In this article, I'll discuss how to design and evolve infrastructure within a software organization. Just like you shouldn't feel, hear or see the pipes in your house, the best infrastructure is unfelt, unheard and unseen.Good infrastructure is also odourlessEvery software organization should have a group of people who focus on the

Ghost in the Java virtual machine

2008-09-06T10:45:00.051-04:00

Compaction is a lesser known facet of garbage collection. In this article, I'll discuss how important it is for Java performance. Left untamed, compaction can come back to haunt you. Find out how it works, where the problems lurk and how to make them go away.The good, the bad and the ugly sisterWorking with high-volume, server-side applications, I often come

Boxers or briefs, stateful or stateless?

2008-08-02T23:27:00.010-04:00

In this article, I'll compare two opposing design paradigms for session data management in a session-based online application. Which is better, stateful or stateless?Epic clashes - in changing rooms near you!Human history is marked with epic clashes of ideologies: Darwinism vs. Creationism, Capitalism vs. Socialism and Boxers vs. Briefs. Some of these ideas have played out over centuries on the

Is garbage collection a failed concept?

2008-07-20T21:08:00.007-04:00

In this article, I'll discuss garbage collection and the value it brings to large-scale application development.Quick - call my stockbroker!There's been a lot of noise about the next version of standard C++. It's due in 2009 and has been named C++0x. (Where's a brand-name expert when you need one.) C++ thought leaders have been let loose and are in full force discussing its merits. Caught in the

Kill your way to high performance

2008-06-28T14:38:00.021-04:00

In this article, I'll discuss a tooless technique used in tuning java application for high performance.Take my wife - please!I like talking about stuff that's unnew, unsexy and unappreciated [insert joke about wife here]. Often, this is where I uncover the most interesting stuff that's been overlooked (e.g. your wife). That old Unix command kill is just that - a simple command that has a very

The art of the hack

2008-06-14T09:55:00.011-04:00

In this article, I'll discuss a skill that should be part of any serious developer's tool kit: the ability to hack.What's a hack?When used as a noun, a hack describes a piece of software code that is known to be sub-par. It violates basic software engineering concepts such as lack of abstraction, lack of encapsulation or plain old bad design. It can even breach a contract within its own ecosystem

Java trash talk

2008-05-30T23:04:00.014-04:00

In this post, I'll discuss why garbage collection is Java's trump card when talking about performance.Them's fighting wordsI recently conducted a technical interview for a Java developer. The candidate made a pretty bold statement: he believed that the biggest design error in Java was that garbage collection was automated. At first, I was stunned by this trash talk aimed at Java. What's more is

When good code goes bad

2008-05-23T23:41:00.014-04:00

In this post, I'll be discussing a dynamic that has a corrosive effect on software code. This dynamic is often responsible for code deterioration over time and makes good code go bad.Good codeYou know the kind. It is written with a full understanding of the problem. It is naive enough to be implemented simply yet sophisticated enough to do all it's supposed to do and just a little bit more.Bad

How javadoc failed us

2008-05-17T11:04:00.012-04:00

In this post, I'll discuss how javadoc is used in enterprises today. It leads to have some doubts as to the usefulness of javadoc.Let’s start off with something not that deep, not that new and not that sexy. In fact, it’s very old and very boring – javadoc. It’s been with us since… forever… and it’s one of those things you don’t question anymore. Javadoc is standard and widely used in the java

About Nick Maiorano

2008-05-12T22:22:00.009-04:00

Nick Maiorano is a software engineer with over 20 years of experience. He has a decade's worth of experience building high performance server-side applications in C/C++ and Java as well as providing technical leadership.He is the co-creator of two software patents and is currently employed as a software architect in the mobile messaging space. The deep heap hopes to provide the reader with