Java 6 and Leopard: my personal thought

In the past days I went desperately on different websites looking for fast answers at the big question: Why Java 6 is not in the Mac Os X Leopard distribution? Forums and blogs have their own threads and articles about it and I want to share with you my personal thought.

Talking about bad things, on one of my past projects I have been working with Java 6 and MSWindows a lot (1 year ago); having the brand new Macbook with Leopard and not be able to run my super application sucks!

Talking about good things, the Java 5 SDK provided out of the box, seems to work pretty smoothly and it looks like a good SDK that doesn't need any further installations or setup to be deployed, the custom Swing library looks great and the overall performances seem very reliable (using well-known application server for example).

What make me think about this problem is the feeling that the idea of bringing the JSDK to the super fast open-source world is splitting the future of Java; on one side we will see in the future the latest versions of the SDK on the best supported operative systems (Windows, Linux, Solaris), where latest versions doesn't mean having the best development platform ever; on the other side we will have a more conservative approach (see Leopard example) where the stability and the quality will prevail against the latest features needs.
Said so, splitting the future of the Java implementations would go against the Code Once Run Everywhere concept!

Getting to my final thought, Apple IS committed to provide a great Java developer machine and THAT doesn't mean that Java 6 needs to be supported right away BUT!!!!!! please Apple HURRY UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A snapshot of my daily commute

To try out the Video embedding functionality.... let's take a look at my daily commute nightmare!

MyUSA s01e01: How to lose a Driver License.

DMV Office Fremont, California (I: Virgilio, DMV: DMV officer)

I: "Good morning Madam, I would like to get my Californian Driver License sent to this address ....".
DMV: Reading all my paperworks..."OK, Can I see your italian driver license?"
I: "Sure, here it goes."
DMV: after 2-3 minutes...., she gets a strange metallic tool and starts looking for the right spot to PUT AN HOLE ON MY DRIVER LICENSE.
I: " Hey Hey Hey , What are you doing?"
DMV: " I am invalidating your driver license! It is a Californian law."
I: "No No, could I get my driver license back please?? It is valid only in Europe and it should not affect the US laws!"
DMV: "No sorry, I have to break it."
I: "No please, I need that driver license for Europe, What if I go back in Italy even for a little vacation? How could I drive back there?"
DMV: "Sir, it is very simple, you can ask for a new one when you get back to your country!"
I: with a sad/angry face "Madam, I want my Italian Driver License back!"
DMV: "Do you want your US driver license or not?"
I: "Yes of course"
DMV: .... BUMP (broken plastic noise)....
I: "SHUT!"


Without going further, I am going to give you directly the final result!



keep in touch for the next episode!

Wow, almost 8 months since my last post!

As I am definitely having too much weird experiences in my two lives (the geek and the normal ones), to let this blog die!


Before write down the first of the long list I have in mind, I need to figure out how to categorize posts with this Google Blogger thing. Keep in touch then!

Virgilio