Open Source Software

The open source movement has changed the course of modern software development. Certainly, Linux has been the most prominent example so far, but there is far more to come. Open source continues to infiltrate mainstream development at an ever faster pace. As that happens, the rules change too.

Open source Eclipse tools overturned the IDE business. Open source frameworks helped drive Ajax. Open source unit testers are now par for the course. In the form of Hibernate and Spring, open source has challenged the conventional application server stack. Open source has penetrated the mysterious world of BPM in the form of BPEL and various rules engines. Open source software is on the evaluation list for more and more messaging and enterprise service bus projects.

But open source in these enterprise instances continues to take on something of the tenor of established commercial software. That is not simply because such key software as Eclipse, JBoss, Spring and Hibernate are backed by large and established software companies. It is also because enterprise software is real work, and some commercial reward seems needed if any software is going to continually be shepherded forward.

The Apache Foundation and the Eclipse Foundation have set the tone; enterprise open source today is very much a mix of independent developers and commercial developers (often doing the work on their employer’s dime). A lot of the same familiar risks apply. Picking the wrong software can leave you out on the limb.

What is the future of open source software? We can anticipate a swing from large, commercially influenced projects back to smaller grass roots projects. When these grass roots projects have mass market potential, we will probably see a bit of a swing back to the larger scale, commercially friendly end of the spectrum.

Source:

http://www.theserverside.com/news/thread.tss?thread_id=60034

Wekaworx on IE8

Here is a screen-shot of Wekaworx running on IE8 Beta2. Wekaworx runs fine, and performs just as well as you have become used to. 

 

Wekaworx on IE8

 

IE8 enforces web standards and therefore many web pages won’t present correctly unless written following valid web standards. Wekaworx was written to be XHTML strict and therefore follows the web standards and runs fine on IE8.

Here is what Microsoft say about IE8

There are many new features in Windows Internet Explorer 8 that will excite both end-users and developers. Features such as Accelerators and Web Slices enhance the user experience, while the improved Phishing Filter helps keep users safe. For developers, strong Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) and HTML compatibility, enhancements to ActiveX controls, and greater Asynchronous JavaScript and XML (AJAX) interoperability provide opportunities to bring new experiences to users.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/ie/cc405106.aspx

 

Well done Microsoft for catching up to the other browsers on web standard compliance.

Graeme

Adding Users To Wekaworx

Hi Again,

The ‘Add New User’ function allows an admin user to create and add a new user to their Wekaworx group. The new user can then share access to the group contacts. Users are able to add a group contact to their ‘My Contacts’ list for easy access on their dashboard view. Users are also able to assign tasks to themselves or other users within the group. 

The following diagram represents users, contacts and tasks within the group. 

A:  Demonstrates that any user has access to the group contacts. 
B:  Demonstrates that a user can add a contact to their ‘My Contacts’ list for easy access on their dashboard. 
C:  Demonstrates a user assigning a task to another user in the group. 
D:  Demonstrates that relationships between contacts can be created. 
E:  Demonstrates an admin user creating another user.

 

 

Enjoy

Graeme

Import Contacts Is Here!

Yes that’s right, Import Contacts is here. It was a while coming but we are there now!

The import function allows you to import your contacts into Wekaworx from another application. The imported file must be a vCard formatted file.

vCard is a file format standard for electronic business cards. vCards are often attached to e-mail messages, but can be exchanged in other ways, such as on the World Wide Web. They can contain name and address information, phone numbers, URLs, logos, photographs, and even audio clips. (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

Most applications allow you to export your contacts as vCard format. With Microsoft Outlook you will need to download one of the many utilities that allow you to do this. Just google ‘vcard export from outlook’ to find a utility program.

The diagram above illustrates a few of the many applications that export contacts as vCard format.

Have a go!

Cheers

Graeme

Wekaworx on Chrome

wekaworx on google chrome

Wekaworx on Google Chrome, cool!

Google has put out their own browser. Here’s what Google says …

We realized that the web had evolved from mainly simple text pages to rich, interactive applications and that we needed to completely rethink the browser. What we really needed was not just a browser, but also a modern platform for web pages and applications, and that’s what we set out to build.

http://www.google.com/chrome/

Google Chrome looks pretty good. Chrome uses the WebKit rendering engine as used by Safari, and the brand new JavaScript engine (V8), which is much faster than existing JavaScript engines.

I guess if Google is in the browser business it shows that web browsers have become the client application platform of choice.  

Graeme

Having Fun?

Have fun with your work. Ok, so it’s not always possible as it depends on the boss, the work, the deadlines, and your colleagues, but having fun is essential to good software and life in general. Developing software is hard and you need good people. But more importantly you need a good team. If your team sits staring at their screens with headphones on, not talking or laughing you have a problem. Tough software problems only get solved when people talk. Not with documentation, not with process, and not with emails.

The photo above is of a desk next to mine (not mine). He’s having fun!

I’m having a lot of fun with Wekaworx at the moment. The feedback has been great and helpful. Watch out for some new features coming soon including Contact Import.

Cheers

Graeme

Firefox 3 Rocks

Wow, normally I wouldn’t bother talking about web browsers but Firefox 3 rocks. I have just been testing Wekaworx in Firefox3 and everything works just fine, in fact it’s much faster and smoother than Firefox2. All the screens look fine and the AJAX screen repaints are even faster.

There are really obvious improvements in the javascript performance for Firefox3. Here are some benchmark results from cybernetnews.com

I’m sure what most of you care the most about are the facts, and so I’ve compiled the results of the SunSpider JavaScript Benchmark test for each of the different browsers. All of the tests below were performed on the same Windows machine, and the Firefox 3 nightly builds definitely came out on top. Here are the results sorted from best to worst

1. Firefox 3 Nightly (PGO Optimized): 7263.8ms
2. Firefox 3 Nightly (02/25/2008 build): 8219.4ms
3. Opera 9.5.9807 Beta: 10824.0ms
4. Firefox 3 Beta 3: 16080.6ms
5. Safari 3.0.4 Beta: 18012.6ms
6. Firefox 2.0.0.12: 29376.4ms
7. Internet Explorer 7: 72375.0ms

Although I still love Safari too…

Graeme Young

Enterprise Computing By Day

By day I am an enterprise developer (Java EE for those who care).

http://java.sun.com/javaee/

Enterprise systems are large computer systems usually talking to other large computer systems. I really like this work, it’s hard, complex and not for everyone.

One aspect of this type of development is the other people you have to interact with. Last week was a bit like the picture above, where I had to solve many problems with an application due for release. I felt like the “Bloke from New Zealand”.

Anyway, fitting into a team is all part of the fun!

This is quite different to Wekaworx, with a team of one, that’s just me, and that’s fun too, often more fun!

Don’t be scared to be the bloke in the hole, others will look on with opinions, but only the guy in the hole is doing the job. What could be better than that!

Cheers

Graeme Young

What Time Is It?

I have finally sorted out the timezones for Wekaworx. When a new user signs up they will be able to select their timezone and therefore get the correct calendar for assigning tasks. The diagram above shows the browser time (1) and the user’s timezone (2). The browser time is currently included for testing and helps me with screen-shots that the test users send through. You will see the timezone changes in the next release due in June.

Cheers

Graeme

Time For An Update!

Sorry I haven’t posted for a while, but things have been progressing with Wekaworx. I have released 1.0.0 with many changes but too many to list here. Email me for a test login if you want to give it a try.

Cheers

Graeme