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Java modular battle heats up as Oracle criticizes Red Hat, IBM

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Top Java official questions the two companies’ sincerity in their opposition to the planned module system

Amid a budding controversy surrounding the module system planned for Java, Oracle’s chief Java architect, Mark Reinhold, lashed out today at Red Hat and IBM’s opposition, saying the companies are simply guarding their own interests.

In an open letter to the Java Community Process (JCP) Executive Committee published Friday morning, Reinhold was highly critical of the two rival vendors. The current disagreement centers on Java Specification Request 376, which focuses on the module system featured as part of Project Jigsaw. Red Hat Middleware initially agreed to the goals and requirements of the JSR, but then worked consistently to undermine them, Reinhold said.

“They attempted to turn this JSR into something other than it was intended to be. Rather than design one module system that is both approachable and scalable, they instead wanted to design a ‘meta’ module system via which multiple different module systems could interoperate on an intimate basis,” he said. “I can only assume that they pursued this alternate goal in order to preserve and protect their home-grown, non-standard module system, which is little used outside of the JBoss/Wildfly ecosystem.”

Opposition by Red Hat and IBM to the module system could even hold up the upcoming release of Java Development Kit (JDK) 9 in late July; modularity is slated to be the marquee feature, enabling better scalability in Java. Red Hat’s Scott Stark, vice president in the company’s JBoss Java middleware group, has argued that the Java module system presents problems for applications and even sets up two separate worlds for developers: one for modules and one without them.

The JSR is meant to provide a module system approachable by all developers, Reinhold said. It is used in JDK 9 via Java Enhancement Proposal 261. Public review balloting on JSR 376 is scheduled to end on May 8, and IBM and Red Hat are expected to vote no.

Designing a “meta” module system would be an interesting project, but it would be even larger in scope and more difficult than JSR 376, Reinhold said. “By focusing on an audience of module-system experts, it would likely result in a design that is far from approachable by all developers. That is why I repeatedly pointed out to Red Hat Middleware that many of the features they advocated were out of scope, but they chose not to accept those decisions.”

IBM, meanwhile, has said very little during the course of JSR 376, Reinhold said. “After they announced that they would vote against it, they later sent a list of specific issues to the EG (Expert Group)—but only in response to a request from another EG member. None of those issues is new, many of them were discussed long ago, and IBM was silent during most of the discussions.”

Reinhold added that he can only conclude IBM has decided its own interests are served by delaying JSR 376 as well as JSR 379, which pertains to Java Standard Edition 9 and is the basis of JDK 9. This was “regrettable,” Reinhold said.

Reinhold says JSR 376 was not perfect, but it reflects years of development, testing, and refinement with much feedback from developers. The current proposal provides a solid foundation for future work, he said. “It is time to ship what we have, see what we learn, and iteratively improve. Let not the perfect be the enemy of the good.” He stressed his opposition to further delays, which could go on for years and could result in a bloated, complex design that no developer would ever use.

Reinhold noted that just yesterday he proposed a revision to the automatic modules part of the proposal after issues were raised. The revision has been received positively, he said.

Modularity in Java has been such a complex issue that it was pushed out from Java 8, which was released in March 2014, and has delayed the release of Java 9.

Interested in Java related jobs please check out our latest here. Or call us for more information on 0330 2233 047

Info World

5 Advantages in using CSS

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Discover 5 Amazing Advantages of using CSS for your website!

When you create a website for your business, time and money are likely to be major concerns. Luckily, there is a web design method that can help you save time and money while also improving your visitor’s experience. Cascading Style Sheets, more commonly known as CSS, has fast become the preferred web design method for the benefits it offers web designers and website visitors alike.

 

What is CSS?

CSS is the key presentational technology that is used in website design.

Before it’s development, nearly all of the presentational attributes of HTML documents were contained within the HTML markup; all font colors, background styles, element alignments, borders and sizes had to be explicitly described, within the HTML.

As a result of, development of large web sites, where fonts and colour information were repeatedly added to every single page, became a long and expensive process.

CSS solve these problems, by allowing web designers to move much of that formatting information to a separate style sheet resulting in considerably simpler HTML markup.

 

Origin

HTML was originally designed as a simple way of presenting information intended for sharing scientific documents and research papers online.

Later on, as the Internet expanded from the academic and research world into the mainstream, and became more media oriented, the presentation of the web pages has become considerably important for a website’s success.

To improve web presentation capabilities CSS was introduced by World Wide Web consortium’s (W3C). It was intended to allow web designers to define the look and feel of their web pages, and to separate content from document’s layout.

 

Advantages

The biggest advantage of CSS is that it allows separating content of an html document from the style and layout of that document. It can thus make documents much easier to maintain and give much better control over the layout of your web pages, because content of an entire set of HTML pages can be easily controlled using one or more style sheets. Check out 5 additional advantages for CSS below:

 

Lots of time will be saved — Lots of flexibility is given to set the properties of an element. You can write it once; and then the same code can be applied to the groups of HTML elements, and can also be reused in multiple HTML pages.

Easy maintenance — It provides an easy means to update document formatting and maintain consistency across multiple documents. By making one change to the website’s CSS, elements in all the web pages will be updated automatically.

Pages load faster — CSS enable multiple pages to share formatting, and reduce complexity and repetition in the structural content. It significantly reduces the file transfer size, which results in a faster page loading.

Superior styles to HTML — CSS has much wider presentation capabilities than HTML, so you can give far better look to your HTML pages in comparison to the HTML presentational elements and attributes.

Multiple Device Compatibility — CSS can also allow the HTML document to be optimised for more than one type of device or media. Using CSS the same HTML document can be presented in different viewing styles for different rendering devices such as computer screen, mobile phones, printer, etc.

 

If you found this article interesting, check out our latest Software Development job vacancy by clicking here! It may be just right for you!

– TutorialRepublic

– NetworkSolutions

IT Jobs Feature: What is PHP used for?

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PHP is a popular server-side scripting language for the web and has common use in many IT Jobs

Generally, PHP is used to add a functionality to websites that HTML alone can’t achieve. There are many IT Jobs which require PHP knowledge as a key skill. But what is PHP capable of and what are the main functions in which someone seeking IT Jobs involving PHP be familiar with? Here are some examples:

Performs Calculations

PHP can perform all types of calculations, from figuring out what day it is or what day of the week a date in the very distant future will be, to performing all  types of mathematical equations. In PHP, math expressions are made up of operators and operands. Basic math addition, subtraction, multiplication and division are done using mathematical operators. The large number of math functions are part of the PHP core. No installation is required to use them.

Collects User Information

Using PHP, you can let your user directly interact with the script. This can be something really simple, like collecting the temperature from the user that they want to convert from degrees to another format, or it can be more extensive information, like adding their information to an address book, letting them post on a forum or participate in a survey.

Interacts With MySQL Databases

PHP is particularly good at interacting with MySQL databases, which opens endless possibilities. You can write user-submitted information to a database, and you can retrieve information from the database. This allows you to create pages on the fly using the contents of the database. You can even perform complex tasks like setting up login systems, creating website search features, or store product catalogues and inventories online.

You can also use PHP and MySQL to set up an automated picture gallery to showcase products.

Creates Graphics with GD Library

Use the GD Library that is bundled with PHP to create simple graphics on the fly or to edit existing graphics. You might want to resize images, rotate them, change them to grayscale, or make thumbnails of them. Practical applications allow users to edit their avatars or generate CAPTCHA verifications. You can also create dynamic graphics that are always changing such as dynamic Twitter signatures.

Works With Cookies

Cookies are used to identify a user and store the user’s preferences as given on the site so the information doesn’t have to be re-entered each time the user visits the site. The cookie is a small file embedded on the user’s computer. Using the programming language, you can create, modify and delete cookies and retrieve cookie values.

Are you seeking IT Jobs which involve working with PHP in a professional environment? Keep an eye on our vacancy page for the latest featured IT Jobs updates. Visit it by clicking here!

 

– Angela Bradley

Making a Mobile App: 6 Key Factors You Should Consider Before Starting

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Building a mobile app can be time consuming and challenging however, extremely rewarding afterwards.

If you’re considering making your first mobile app, check out these 6 factors you should take into consideration before attempting to do so.


  1. Are you making a mobile app to promote an existing business or to make money from it?

Do you want your mobile app to be a promotional tool for an existing business? If your app will showcase your own business, boat club, local pub or community centre, then the fastest way to get it done is probably to hire a local app development company to make it for you. You don’t need to learn too much about the process. Just show them some apps that you like in the store, and bring along the text, photos and videos you want in your app. If you can, try to design your app to do something useful. Apple have tightened up a lot and will not publish apps that are primarily marketing material. If you want the most possible downloads, set your app’s price to ‘free’. Then once it’s live tell all your customers about it.

Is your main goal to make money from your app? If you want to make money, the app should not be targeted towards one country. You will not make money by creating an app about something which is native to only one country. Steer clear of making an app for a seasonal events as well at the start. To maximise your revenue, start small and use your first few apps as a hands on education. You can buy source code, reskin it by updating all the graphics and publish it, often for under £400-£800 per app. The less you spend, the faster you will become profitable. Ideally spend no more than £400 per app on your first few apps. Researching what is currently popular in the store by looking at the top charts is a great way to reduce risk, and make an app type that already has proven market demand. Of course the more work you can do yourself, the more money you will save on developers.

 

  1. Should you make an iPhone app, an Android app, or both?

Android and iPhone/iPad use different languages so most people usually choose to develop one at the beginning to keep costs down. If you want to make money,  for now choose the iPhone/iPad. A lot of app developers find it’s more difficult to get downloads and revenue from an Android app. Learn more about How to Make an iPhone App. But if you think Android suits your market demographic better, choose Android development.  If you want the app to promote a business, think seriously about Android. There are no ‘reviews’ prior to your app being published, and your app will go live automatically about 20 minutes after you have submitted it.

 

  1. Should the mobile app be free?

Pricing works differently for different app categories. Free is very popular in games and entertainment, especially on Android. Unless it’s an incredibly complex niche app, the safest option is to make two versions, paid and free. See which makes you the most money and work from there. To start making money from a free app, try putting some ad networks into your app. After a few months once you get up to speed, you can experiment with in-app purchases and other monetization options. If you want the most downloads, make your app free.

 

  1. What kind of app should you make?

The best way to make money from your app is to know that there is market demand for your app before you start to develop it. Go into the iTunes store every day, look at the top free, top paid, and top grossing apps in the categories you are interested in. Download the apps and play with them. Are people downloading the type of app you want to make? If they are not, maybe put that idea aside and move on to your next app idea. Don’t ever fall in love with an idea. (If you do, only make it from the profit you have earned from your other apps!). From my experience and from talking to many other developers, the category with the most revenue generating potential, both from ads and in-app purchases, is games. And if you want to start your own app business, that’s probably the best tip which can be given.

 

  1. Should you hire someone or learn how to make the mobile app yourself?

If you want to start an app business, then it would be advised that you start to learn about making apps. Learn the common pitfalls and how the app market works. Learn from success stories and what they did to get there. You can lose a lot of money in the beginning paying developers WAY too much money to make an app if you do not have a basic knowledge of what’s involved and how much effort it should take. Check out the Chocolate Lab developer blog for insights and tips, and teach yourself how to reskin a game and integrate ads with our Udemy courseLearn xCode, reskin an iPhone game, integrate ads and upload to Apple (FREE preview.)

If you only want to make one app, for example to promote a business, you probably want to hire a team. Hiring locally is probably the easiest but may cost more. Outsourcing has its own challenges but may come with a lower cost. Attend networking events, try and meet contacts either in person or over LinkedIn. The quality of your team’s skills will be critical, so keep searching for contractors until you have put together an AAA Level Team.

 

  1. How much risk should you take when making an app?

Aim to create a portfolio of successful apps, rather than putting all of your energy into one big app. Keep your risk low and your prospects for success high. At the beginning, it’s easier to make money from lots of small apps than it is from one big app. You will learn a lot from every app you publish, so the quality of your apps will keep increasing. You will make mistakes and learn valuable lessons. So keep your costs low at the start so you don’t bankrupt yourself. Apps can be created and published at very little expense. It is possible. By learning the basic coding skills yourself,  you can save a lot of money. Aim to be profitable as fast as you can, ideally in 14 days after launch. Do not spend 6, 12 or 18 months by yourself working on getting your app perfect. Get a small section of the app done, maybe just one module or chapter, and upload it to the store straightaway. Ship fast. Customer feedback will be invaluable to you. Validate your assumptions – pricing, app type, design, theme, features, marketing material, etc – as soon as possible. The information you learn from going through the publishing process and confirming your monetization choices were correct will allow you to make more educated choices and increase your revenue in the future.

Common concerns from people making an app for the first time:

  • “There is an app like mine in the store already“ That is great news. Go to the website www.topappcharts.com and type in the name of the app. If it’s not in any of the top rankings for its category, then you’ve just saved yourself a lot of time and money, and you have now found out that demand for that app type is not as strong as you would like it to be. “I truly think my app idea is INCREDIBLE and I still want to make it.” Ok, great enthusiasm! What you need to do now is to put that idea in a drawer. If this is an excellent idea, you want to give it every chance of success. So for the next 2 months, plan on publishing 10 small apps. A good way to keep costs low is to buy source code on the internet, change the graphics, integrate ads and upload it yourself, or hire a developer to put in some ads, so you can start to earn money. After the 2 months you will be MUCH more knowledgeable, hopefully profitable, and in a much better position to do justice to your big app idea. If you want to do justice to you app, it has to look INCREDIBLE. It should look like it was made by a multimillion pound studio. People download beautifully designed apps.
  • “I don’t have any money.” It’s still possible to make apps. The cheapest way to get started is to use the machine you have right now. If you have a mac, build iPhone/iPad apps. If you have a PC, build Android apps. You do not need to buy a smartphone in the beginning. The software you use (xCode and Eclipse) to make the apps comes with a free phone simulator so you can view the app on your Mac or PC. To build an app, check out online app building platforms for an affordable way to start. To publish an app, you will need to pay Android $25, or Apple $99 for a developer’s license.
  • “I have this app idea but I don’t want to tell you in case you steal it.”  Don’t say this too often. Instead say “I have an idea for a photography/health/game/entertainment iPhone/Android app. Do you have any experience publishing apps in this area?”


To do it right, there is a lot of hard work involved and you will get addicted to your laptop. There’s a steep learning curve at the start, and you might not see your family and friends for a good while. But if you can stick it out and start getting things working, it is definitely worth it. The people who are the most successful in this area learn as fast as they can and execute every day.

Are you interested in mobile phones? Take a look out our new IT Repair Technician role specialising in mobile phone repairs and problem diagnostics. You can view it by following this link!

If you are interested in Software Development, we also have Software Developer vacancies covering both Junior and Senior levels. If you’re a junior software developer, explore our junior role vacancy by following this link.

If you’re an experienced Software Developer looking to take the next step in your career, check out what could be waiting for you by clicking here!

– Elaine Heney

IT Jobs Feature: Employers seek Self-Taught Developers

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As the skills gap leaves firms scrambling for tech talent to fill IT Jobs, self-taught developers are taking advantage of the need for skilled workers

A study into IT Jobs analytics by jobs website, Hired, has found 26% of developers in the UK have no listed university education, and have taught themselves coding skills.

Hired’s CEO Mehul Patel said some firms put a lot of stake in a potential candidates CV, and they could be missing out on talented people who are more likely to fit into the organisation’s culture.

“People tend to look for certain major indicators of success, but you need to have a hiring process that’s flexible enough to recognise talent even if they don’t have the right school or the right degree. The folk who self-teach and self-learn are passionate and dedicated,” he said.

There is currently a skills gap in the UK, with firms unable to find candidates with the tech skills they need to fill IT Jobs and empty digital jobs costing the economy approximately £2bn a year.

Hired’s research found a growing gap between demand for security and data IT jobs and the number of people with these particular skills.

In the past 12 months, there has been a 222% increase in the number ofinterview requests made by employers for security engineering roles, and a 234% increase for data engineers.

Patel claimed although there has been an increase in the number of employers looking for people to fill these IT Jobs, the domestic supply has not risen to match it.

“The areas most in demand in the digital economy are, unsurprisingly, security and data. There is a widening gap between demand for these services and the lack of supply to match that,” he said.

According to the research, part of the problem is a lack of supply coming from the UK, with a third of tech talent coming to the UK from the European Union (EU).

UK Talent Shortage

“If there’s a growing skills gap, there is also a supply issue – particularly a domestic supply issue,” said Patel.

Research shows there has been a year-on-year increase in the number of UK computer science undergraduates, but whether they are leaving university with the skills they need to enter the tech workplace is a different story.

“Over the past decade computer science graduate numbers have declined, so there are less people with computer science degrees,” said Patel.

Children in the UK between the ages of five and 16 are required to learn about coding and computational thinking as part of the curriculum.

“There has been good progress in terms of building tech into the national curriculum, but it has not gone far enough – even coding is very recent,” said Patel.

More than 80% of the people taking computer science degrees in the UK in 2015 were men, and Patel warns companies of shutting out “half of the population who could add value”.

Patel claimed some of this lack of uptake in computer science over the past few years could be down to negative perceptions and stereotypes of the industry.

“There’s a perception issue in the UK where software engineering isn’t seen as a very desirable career choice,” he said. “As a young student in the UK you will be taught information technology, but it’s not enough to really equip you and get you excited.”

– Clare McDonald

Are you seeking a long term career within the IT industry? If so, be sure to check out our latest IT Job roles on our website by clicking here!

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