Programming Language Quotes

I found just what I was looking for on an entertaining list of programming language quotes:

Using TSO is like kicking a dead whale down the beach. (Stephen C Johnson)

I'm on the beach again at ThoughtWorks. That means I'm presently without a project. It's a weird feeling to be home with little to do but job hunt via proxy. It's also a good time to retool, rethink and retune. I'm trying to get the latest AppFuse working with Mckoi (an open-source, all-Java SQL database) so I can make a pre-packaged webapp in all it's glory but without requiring any additional software setup. Just for fun, you see?

Agile Perl

Perl is usually not thought of as a very agile programming language, but I found a nice introductory link to XP pointing to the LAMP section of O'Reilly's website. Even better, Michael Schwern talks about refactoring DBI code. Tasty DBI—where's my O-R mapper? Actually, Schwern's work on Class::Fields is pretty cool.

A rant against tool GUIs

The BileBlog has a terrific rant against tool GUIs with specific bile reserved for web application cruft. I draw great delight from this quote: GUI Culprits include the horrific weblogic workshop, websphere's I'm-going-to-chew-off-my-arm-now-to-distract-myself-from-the-pain deployment tools, and my current cross to bear, tibco's just-stab-me-in-the-face-now-to-end-it-all schema designer tool. Pure gold.

AppFuse

AppFuse is a kick-ass combination of test-first, open-source packages for writing web applications all rolled up for you. It includes O-R persistence (hibernation), a framework (struts), automated configuration generation (xdoclet), soup-to-nuts testing (too many to list :-) and an out-of-the-box login management system. What a superb demonstration of smart integration. If only the commercial world could do as well.

Using OpenSSL to set up your own CA

It took me quite a long time to track down these instructions. I've been looking for setting up SSL on tomcat/jetty (any web server, really) with client authentication and self-signed server certificates. Surprisingly, I had great difficulty in finding a resource with just the right set of incantations. 17 steps in all, including hand editing of some of the output files. Without these instructions, I wasn't going to get it right on my own. I'm hoping this post saves someone else some time.

If I ever meet Christopher Williams—whoever he is—,I'm buying him a beer. A really big one.

Remember when...

Remember when MULTICS was new and cool? Well I don't either, but I'd be remiss as an OS fan if I didn't read this article on the venerable, breaththrough system which spawned UNIX and influenced Windows NT via VMS. Now that is seminal.

More on Java 1.5

I missed earlier this year an interesting discussion on Java 1.5: should Java adopt macros (in the Lisp sense, not the C sense) in lieu of globbing on features version after version? I link; you decide.

The BileBlog

The BileBlog is an excellent Java blog. I recommend it to avid readers.

Have you ordered yours yet?

The Art of UNIX Programming

The structure, entrance, production, motivation and control in an Open Source project

This is an excellent article on KDE.News about the development of the K Desktop Environment as an open-source project, plus many links about KDE and desktop research.