Event Details
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Session Descriptions
Andrew Glover - Co-author of "Continuous Integration"
Groovy 101: core Groovy
It has been said that Grails is the addiction and Groovy is the drug. If you want to start building slick web applications rapidly with Grails it helps to start with a solid understanding of the Groovy language itself.Introduction to TestNG, the next generation testing framework for developers
No one will argue that JUnit has positively affected the quality of thousands of Java applications around the world. JUnit’s simplicity and ease of use ushered in a whole new era of code quality; however, as many developers have found, its simplicity has also limited its use. TestNG was designed from the ground up to overcome some of JUnit’s limitations; moreover, TestNG’s features make it a great tool to complement your JUnit tests.Unit Testing Java Objects with Groovy
What makes Groovy particularly appealing with respect to otherscripting platforms is its seamless integration with the Java platform. Because it's based on the Java language (unlike other alternate languages for the JRE, which tend to be based on earlier predecessors), Groovy presents an incredibly short learning curve for the Java developer. And once that learning curve has straightened out, Groovy can offer an unparalleled rapid development platform.
Brian Sletten - Forward Leaning Software Consultant
Applied AOP
Most people new to Aspect-Oriented Programming (AOP) are fed up with separation of concerns zealots explaining how great their techniques are at dealing with... logging. Ok, you get it. Logging is a cross-cutting concern that can be appropriately modularized. What else does AOP have to offer? A lot, it turns out. This talk will give an introduction to the motivations of AOP as well as a series of concrete examples drawn from enterprise and client side Java. Come learn how AspectJ-flavored AOP can begin to benefit you immediately either in development or production environments. Learn how to enforce architectural policies, find Swing threading issues, reduce the invasiveness of the Observer design pattern or even improve the reusability of your domain models. Now that Spring 2.0 provides support for AspectJ, the time has never been better to learn about these new (but backwards compatible) ways of thinking about building software.Applied Design Patterns
Just about every modern software developer has a copy of the Gang of Four "Design Patterns" book sitting on a shelf; many of them have actually read it. The dark secret of the patterns community is that there is often a large gulf between whiteboard simplicity and real-world complexity. Language choice plays a part in the design (and even importance) of patterns. The situation is made even more confusing by the fact that many of the core patterns have now been "voted off the island" for one reason or another. This talk will give a pragmatic overview of the motivations behind design patterns and will focus on applying a handful of the GOF patterns to example scenarios in Java, Ruby and C#. A quick introduction to the role AOP plays in changing the patterns landscape will also be covered.Applied REST
REST sounds like such a simple thing. But, what is it really? How do you convince your boss to let you try it when she has been sold on the equation SOAP = SOA + P(rofit)? How do you go about building, deploying, publishing and orchestrating web services without the (Un)Holy Trinity of SOAP, WSDL and UDDI?Resource-Oriented Computing w/ NetKernel : Software for the 21st Century
Imagine the simplicity of REST married to the power of Unix pipes with the benefits of a loosely-coupled, logically-layered architecture. If that is hard to imagine, it may because the architectures available to you today are convoluted accretions of mismatched technologies, languages, abstractions and data models.NetKernel is a disruptive technology that changes the game. It has been quietly gaining mind share in the past several years; people who are exposed to it don't want to go back to the tired and blue conventions of J2EE and .NET. Not only does it make building the kinds of systems you are building today easier, it does it more efficiently, with less code and a far more scalable runway to allow you to take advantage of the emerging multi-core, multi-CPU hardware that is coming our way.
Come see how this open source / commercial product can change the way you think about building software.
Clinton Begin - Creator of the iBATIS Data Mapper
"Bottom 10" Reasons Agile Teams Fail
Agile methodologies such as eXtreme Programming and SCRUM are hot topics today -- and they are also hot targets. When things go wrong on an agile project, it's far too convenient to blame the methodology.Learn from Ruby, Code with Java
By jumping from Java to Ruby and Ruby on Rails, are we throwing the baby out with the bathwater?In this discussion, we'll discuss the benefits of Ruby and Ruby on Rails and the drawbacks of the way we currently build Java applications. Then we'll show you exactly how the situation can be corrected, and possibly even reversed. Can the Java platform achieve what Rails does? I'm going to risk saying: "Absolutely the most important parts can."
iBATIS and the Enterprise Database
This presentation will focus on database challenges that object oriented developers often face in an enterprise environment. Object Relational Mapping (ORM) tools are not ideal for all databases, and therefore alternatives such as iBATIS must be sought.Colin Sampaleanu - Core Spring Developer
New and Exciting in Spring Framework 2.0
Spring Framework is the leading full-stack Java/Java EE application framework. Now Spring 2.0 is here, with three attributes which capture what users can expect in this major new release: Simple, Powerful, and Proven.Spring Web Flow
Spring Web Flow has created a lot of excitement in recent months by bringing the ability to model a "flow" or "conversation" in a declarative fashion, when creating Java web applications.David Geary - Author of Graphic Java and co-author of Core JSF
Ajaxian Faces
JavaServer Faces is a perfect platform for implementing Web 2.0 interfaces with Ajax. This session explores how you can use these two potent technologies--JSF and Ajax--together to create applications that look and behave like desktop applications but run in the browser.JSF: State of the Art
In 2005, JSF hit its stride, as evidenced from overwhelming support from both vendors and the open-source community. JSF 1.0 had plenty of holes, but open-source projects have arisen to address those needs. This session takes a look at three of those projects: Tomahawk (MyFaces component library) FaceletsSeamJavaServer Faces: A Whirlwind Tour
In April 2005, annual growth rates for jobs in JavaServer Faces, Struts, and Ruby on Rails were all at about 0%. Today, Struts' growth rate still hovers around 0%, but JSF and Rails have taken off. At the end of 2007, both JSF and Rails were growing at a rate of between 400-500% annually (according to indeed.com).JSF has passed the adoption tipping point, and is now the Java-based framework of choice, as is evidenced by its ecosystem. From vendors such as MyEclipse and RedHat to open source projects such as Seam, Facelets, and Ajax4JSF, JSF is where the action is.
Come see why JSF is so popular. In this code- and demo-intensive session, I'll show you the fundamentals of JSF.
Prerequisite: Some knowledge of Java-based web applications, such as Struts, is a plus, but is not required. If you have a significant experience with JSF, you probably already know most of what's covered in this session.
Shale: Turbo-charge your JSF Apps
JavaServer Faces is a well designed user interface framework, but it lacks a number of features you might otherwise expect out of the box; for example, JSF does not explicitly provide support for client-side validation.So, from the folks that brought you Struts, comes Shale, a collection of useful enhancements to JSF. A top-level Apache Software Foundation project, Shale adds some really cool features to vanilla JSF, including:
Web flow: script dialog flow
Remote Method Calls: easily call JavaBean methods from JavaScript
Tapestry-like views: code views in pure HTML
Use Apache Commons Validator validators on the client or server, or both
JSF testing framework: mocks for easy JSF testing
There's a lot of cool stuff in Shale that makes JSF a much more compelling proposition. Come see what it's all about.
The Google Web Toolkit, Part One
Developing highly interactive web applications, for the most part requires knowledge of a wide array of technologies: HTML, CSS, JavaScript, XMLHttpRequest, JSP, JSF, etc.With the Google Web Toolkit (GWT), Google turns that notion of development on its head. Instead, you implement Ajax applications by writing almost entirely in Java. You use an AWT-like API, which the Google compiler compiles to JavaScript that runs on the client.
David Hussman - Agility Instructor/Mentor
Automating Business Value with FIT and FitNesse
The presentation will briefly discuss stories, the origin and authoring of story tests, and a demonstration of how FIT and FitNesse (FIT living within a Wiki) can be used to automate acceptance tests.Creating, Telling, and Tracking User Stories
The participants of this session will become agile customers and product owners, using personas to create stories for a sample product development.Losing Battles and Winning Wars: Adopting Agile
Adopting agile is different for each company, but most companies will go through some amount of change during the adoption of agile.Ready, Set, Agile?
As with many methodologies, moving agile into an organizations poses larger challenges. Before jumping in, it helps to ask a few questions before "racing toward agility". This session will provide 3 tactical steps that can help your adoption of agile.“Show Me the Numbers” - Agile Planning Tools and Techniques
This session will focus on tools and techniques for tracking an agile project plan from creation to project completion.Deborah Hartmann - Agile Process Coach
Agile Metrics and Diagnostics: Knowing When and What to Measure
Some Agile teams are still using Waterfall metrics, others aren't measuring anything at all. There's little help to be had: few hard-and-fast Agile Metrics have emerged as effective measures. This might seem surprising, but perhaps the temporary and contextual nature of agile metrics explains the emergence of a more heuristic approach.The best teams are creating metrics on demand, in support of their goals, applying their understanding of Agile principles and values to create useful measurement tools on the fly. We propose to call these local, contextual measurement tools diagnostics to distinguish them from more long-term metrics used to measure contribution to overall organizational goals.
Since Team metrics or diagnostics are highly contextual, they need to be evaluated carefully to know if they are useful. We will present both long term metrics used by the business, and potential diagnostic measures used by the team. We will present a tool for evaluating diagnostic metrics for Agile teams, and use it to evaluate a few team metrics proposed by participants.
Floyd Marinescu - Co-founder of Infoq.com
Trends in Enterprise Java
There are a number of trends occurring that are rapidly changing the way we think about and develop Enterprise Java applications. Trends such as- Annotations, Dependency Injection, and AOP
- Web 2.0 turning the internet into an application platform
- Domain Driven Design
- SOA
- Open Source in emerging economies
- the rise of scripting languages
... and others are changing the nature of software development in Java.
Mark Richards - SOA and Enterprise Architect, Author of Java Transaction Design Strategies
EJB3 Core Specification (JSR-220)
EJB3 (JSR-220) offers some great improvements over the prior EJB specs in terms of development simplicity and new features. In this session we will explore in detail some of the new features of the core EJB 3 specification. Included in this session will be defining and accessing session beans, dependency injection, declarative security, interceptors (aop), and Message-Driven Beans (MDB). For those of you who still like to write XML, I will also discuss and show how we can use XML rather than annotations within EJB3. During the session I will demonstrate the new features of EJB 3 through interactive coding examples. Note: this session does not cover the new Java Persistence API (JPA) - only the core specification.Intro to Java Persistence API (JPA)
In addition to providing a simplified API, the new EJB3 specification (JSR-220) defines a standard ORM Java Persistence API (JPA) that is rapidly gaining in popularity. As you will see in this session, JPA bears a striking resemblance to popular ORM solutions like Hibernate and Toplink. In this session we will explore in detail the new Java Persistence API offered by JSR-220. We will start by discussing the overall design and architecture of the JPA and how the major components within JPA interact. We will then look at defining mapping objects (entities) and how to use the EntityManager to manage these entities. Through interactive coding examples we will investigate the pros and cons of detached entities and merging, how to map and use entity relationships (1-1, 1-N, N-1, and N-N), discuss Lazy Loading, and finally see how to use XML mappings rather than annotations. More advanced features of JPA will be covered in a separate session.Making Architecture Work Through Agility
As companies continue to change the way they do business, so must the IT systems that support the business. Changes due to regulatory requirements, competitive advantage, mergers, acquisitions, and industry trends require flexible IT systems to meet the demands of the business. Software Architects must therefore make their architectures more agile to meet the flexible demands of today's business. Through real-world examples and scenarios we will explore some of the challenges facing Software Architecture and discuss several concrete techniques for applying agility to both the architecture process and the technical architecture itself. We will also look at various architecture refactoring techniques, and discuss the pros and cons of each. By attending this session you will learn how to apply various agile techniques to improve your architectures and overcome some of the challenges facing software architecture in today's ever-changing market.The Enterprise Service Bus: Do We Really Need It?
There has been a significant amount of buzz in the community and industry about the definition and role of an Enterprise Service Bus (ESB), particularly within the area of Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA). In this product-agnostic high energy session we will take a step back and consider whether we really need an ESB. Through real-world application and architecture scenarios we will see where an ESB would be helpful and where it would be overkill. We will take a look under the hood and find out just what an ESB is really doing, and take a quick look at JBI (JSR-208) and see the impact it has on the ESB worls. Then, using product-agnostic coding examples we will learn what an Enterprise Service Bus is supposed to do, then answer the question about whether the ESB is just a bunch of hype or if we really need it.Nathaniel Schutta - Author, speaker, software engineer focused on user interface design.
Foundations of Ajax
Seemingly overnight, Ajax has gone from an obscure acronym to, well, having conferences devoted to it. People are often surprised when they learn that Ajax isn't really anything new - so if it's yesterday's technology, why all the hype? This talk will examine the course of events that led up to the current love affair with richer client applications. We'll talk examine the technologies that power an Ajax application and discuss how to work with them - and then we'll examine a number of frameworks that will do much of the heavy lifting for us!Pragmatic Usability (aka, Software Engineer's Guide to Usability)
While some companies have the luxury of a full time usability team, most of us have to make do on our own. Sure, it might be easier (and more comfortable) to focus on all the hip back end goodness, but if your user interface makes users yack, your product is doomed.Scott Davis - Author of "Groovy Recipes" & TDD Expert
Guerrilla Web Techniques
Frameworks? We don't need no stinkin' web frameworks. OK, so maybe that's overstating the case. Web frameworks do plenty of good things, but sometimes they can also be golden handcuffs. Too many web developers fall into the trap of thinking, "If it can't be done by my web framework, then it simply can't be done."Holistic Testing
Mark Twain once said, "Everyone talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it." Do you feel the same way about Unit Testing? Are you actively testing your code, or are you just thinking about testing your code... some day... once you get some more free time...Real World Web Services
In this talk, we'll survey the web services exposed by leading websites (Google, Yahoo, Amazon, eBay) and discuss how they are driving the AJAX revolution. You'll see examples of RESTful, SOAP, and JSON web services, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of each.Rolling Your Own Google Maps
The release of Google Maps was a "Wizard of Oz / Technicolor" moment for web developers everywhere. It didn't just change the way we look at mapping sites; it forever changed the way we look at all web sites. It put AJAX on the map, both figuratively and literally.Testing the Web Tier
Hopefully your test plan involves more than, "Well, it compiled..." JUnit is fast becoming a required part of the modern Java developer's toolkit. Unit testing your Java classes is a great start, but your test plan shouldn't stop there.This talk will introduce several additional testing tools for the web developer -- HttpUnit, Canoo WebTest, and JMeter. These tools allow you to test a live website with no changes to the production code. Even better, you can test sites that have been implemented in technologies other than Java.
Ted Neward - Enterprise, Virtual Machine and Language Wonk
Java5: The Language, The Libraries, The VM
Java5 introduced a whole slew of new features, including annotations (JSR 175), new language features (the enhanced for loop, generics, static imports, and more), new library support (java.lang.instrument, among others), and some interesting enhancements to the virtual machine itself.Effective Enterprise Java: State Management
Managing state--both transient state (like your shopping cart) and your durable state (like your order placements, your inventory management forms, and so on)--is tricky in an enteprrise application. In this talk, we'll examine some of the trickiness, both high-level and low-.Java6: Exploring Mustang
Mustang, the Java6 release, is out, and even if you're not looking to adopt the new platform right away, it's important to know what's there so you can start to plan for it. In this presentation, we'll go over the major new features of the Java6 platform, including the new integrated XML services capabilities (JAX-WS and JAXB), dynamic/scripting language support (javax.script), new JVM "attach" capabilities, new annotations supported by the javac compiler, and more.Pragmatic XML Services
There's a lot of talk about web services, and most of it falls into one of two categories: lots of low-level talk about vendor-specific tools and extensions, or lots of high-level talk that never shows you a line of code. XML services aren't that hard, and in this talk, we'll see how, why and when to do one.Venkat Subramaniam - Founder of Agile Developer, Inc.
Get Groovier with Grails
Inspired by the Ruby on Rails project, Grails brings the ease of web development and "convention over configuration" to the Java platform. We will learn how to create web applications using Grails, how to integrate it with Hibernate, and how to Ajax it, all using the built in features of Grails. This section assumes that you are familiar with Groovy or you have attended the “Groovy for Java Programmers” session. The session will be example driven with live coding where we will build a web application from scratch.Open Source Tools for Agile Development
As a Java developer, you have taken the time to learn the basics of the language and relevant parts of its rich API. However, you need more than that to develop serious industrial strength applications. In this presentation, the speaker will introduce you to a number of open source tools which you can use to improve your application quality and your development process.Practices of an Agile Developer
You have worked on software projects with varying degree of success. What were the reasons for the success of your last project? What were the reasons for those that failed? A number of issues contribute to project success - some non-technical in nature. In this presentation the speaker will share with you practices in a number of areas includingcoding, developer attitude, debugging, and feedback. The discussions are based on the book with the same title as the talk.
Refactoring your code - a key step in agility
Refactoring is one of the core practices in Agile Software Development. Refactoring is based on some core principles that apply to more than writing good code. But, what's refactoring? Why should you do it? How do you go about doing that? What tools are available to successfully refactor your App?Working with Rules Engines
Rule based programming allows us to develop applications using declarative rules. These can simplify development in applications where such rules based knowledge is used for decision making.
Andrew Glover
Co-author of "Continuous Integration"
Andrew Glover is the President of Stelligent Incorporated, which helps companies address software quality with effective developer testing strategies and continuous integration techniques that enable teams to monitor code quality early and often.
Andrew was the founder of Vanward Technologies, which was acquired by JNetDirect in 2005. He is the co-author of Addison Wesley's "Continuous Integration", Manning's "Groovy in Action" and "Java Testing Patterns". He is an author for multiple online publications including IBM's developerWorks and Oreilly's ONJava and ONLamp portals. He actively blogs about software quality at thediscoblog.com and testearly.com.
Brian Sletten
Forward Leaning Software Consultant
Brian Sletten is a liberal arts-educated software engineer with a focus on forward-leaning technologies. He has a background as a system architect, a developer, a mentor and a trainer. His experience has spanned defense, finance and commercial domains with security consulting, network matrix switch controls, 3D simulation/visualization, Grid Computing, P2P and Semantic Web-based systems. He has a B.S. in Computer Science from the College of William and Mary and currently lives in Fairfax, VA. He is a partner in Zepheira, LLC, a new services company focused on using semantic-oriented technologies to solve architectural and data integration problems not handled by conventional tools and techniques.
Clinton Begin
Creator of the iBATIS Data Mapper
Clinton Begin is a Senior Developer and Agile Mentor for ThoughtWorks Canada. He has been building enterprise applications for 8 years based on platforms such as Java and .NET. Clinton has extensive experience with agile methodologies, persistence frameworks and relational databases. He is the original creator of the iBATIS persistence framework, which he designed in response to the challenges faced by object oriented developers dealing with enterprise relational databases. Clinton is an experienced speaker, having delivered formal presentations, training seminars and bootcamps from San Francisco to New York City.
Colin Sampaleanu
Core Spring Developer
Colin, a core Spring developer, is an architect with over 18 years of experience in developing commercial software, including all aspects of the software development lifecycle. Colin is co-author of 'Professional Java Development with Spring'
Colin has had a long and varied career, including experience developing for and managing his own retail software company, other experience in the C++ shrinkwrap and enterprise software space, experience with Java since '97, and a complete focus on enterprise Java since '99.
As architect and then chief architect at a software incubator / VC, from the '99 to 2004 time period, Colin's role was split between one part hands on architecture, design, and coding, another part mentoring and teaching best practices at the code and process level, and a final part performing technical due diligence and consulting for the VC arm. Throughout this period, Colin gained experience with and an appreciation for agile development practices as a vital part of software success.
Throughout his career, Colin's experience, wide ranging interests and general knowledge in the technology space have led him to be a resource that others have been able to draw on for advice. In general, Colin's background has left him with a deep knowledge of all it takes to successfully put out good software, at the code, process, and business level.
Along with client work at Interface21, Colin also spends significant time on Spring evangelism, including talks at a number of JUG meetings.
David Geary
Author of Graphic Java and co-author of Core JSF
David Geary is the president of Clarity Training, Inc. (corewebdevelopment.com), where he teaches developers to implement web applications using JSF, GWT, and Grails.
A prominent author, speaker, and consultant, David holds a unique qualification as a Java expert: He wrote the best-selling books on both Java component frameworks: Swing and JavaServer Faces (JSF). David's Graphic Java Swing was one of the best-selling Java books of all-time and Core JSF, which David wrote with Cay Horstman, is the best-selling book on JavaServer Faces.
David was one of a handful of experts on the JSF 1.0 Expert Group (EG) that actively defined the standard Java-based web application framework, and he's currently helping to define the next version of JSF on the JSF 2.0 EG.
Besides serving on the JSF and JSTL Expert Groups, David has contributed to open-source projects and co-authored Sun's Web Developer Certification Exam. He invented the Struts Template library which was the precursor to Tiles, a popular framework for composing web pages from JSP fragments, was the 2nd Struts committer and contributed to Shale.
A regular on the NFJS tour, David also speaks at other conferences such as JavaOne and JavaPolis. David has taught at Java University and was twice voted a JavaOne rock star, for presentations in 2005 and 2007.
David Hussman
Agility Instructor/Mentor
David has been creating software for more than 15 years in a variety of domains: digital audio, digital biometrics, medical, financial, retail, legal, and education to name a few. For the past 8 years, David has mentored and coached agile teams in the U.S., Canada, Europe, India, Egypt, Russia, and Ukraine. Along with presenting and leading workshops / tutorials at conferences in the U.S. and Europe, David has contributed to several books (Managing Agile Projects and Agile in the Large), and worked on agile curriculum for The University of Minnesota and Capella University. David is currently writing a book for the Pragmatic Programmer series.
David leads DevJam, a Minneapolis based company composed of agile collaborators. As mentors and practitioners, DevJam focuses on using agile to help people and companies improve their software production skills. DevJam provides seasoned leaders that strive to pragmatically match technology, people, and processes in a way which produces software that makes people happier and more productive.
For more information, check out the DevJam website www.devjam.com
Deborah Hartmann
Agile Process Coach
Deborah is the Agile Community Editor for InfoQ.com, and works as an Agile Process Coach in Toronto on on the east coast.
Deb is passionate about making teamwork valuable and rewarding, and has mentored colleagues and improved software teams throughout her 25-year journey from programmer to coach. She injects excitement and laughter into everything she does.
She is a visual artist, a certified Practicing Scrum Master, runs the Open Space track at XPday North America events, and provides active leadership in both international and local Agile communities.
Deb muses aloud at www.vitalbrew.com.
Floyd Marinescu
Co-founder of Infoq.com
Floyd Marinescu is co-founder of InfoQ.com and was also previously the creator of TheServerSide.com and TheServerSide Java Symposium conferences. Floyd is the author of the best seller "EJB Design Patterns" (2002, John Wiley and Sons). Floyd also publishes a blog on Enterprise Java topics at http://dynamicsemantics.blog-city.com/.
Mark Richards
SOA and Enterprise Architect, Author of Java Transaction Design Strategies
Mark Richards is an SOA and Enterprise Architect involved in the architecture and design of large-scale Service Oriented Architectures in J2EE and other technologies, primarily in the financial services industry. He has been involved in the software industry since 1984, and has significant experience and expertise in J2EE architecture and development, Object-oriented design and development, and systems integration. Mark served as the President of the Boston Java User Group in 1997 and 1998, and the President of the New England Java Users Group from 1999 thru 2003. He is the author of "Java Transaction Design Strategies", contributing author of "NFJS Anthology Volume 1", contributing author of "NFJS Anthology Volume 2", and contributing author of the Java Coding Standards book produced by the Nejug. Mark is an IBM Certified Application Architect, Certified Master IT Architect (TOG), Sun Certified J2EE Business Component Developer, a Sun Certified J2EE Enterprise Architect, a Sun Certified Java Programmer, a BEA WebLogic Certified Developer, a Certified Java Instructor, and holds a Master's Degree in Computer Science from Boston University. He is a regular conference speaker at the No Fluff Just Stuff Symposium Series and speaks at conferences and user groups around the country. When he is not working Mark can usually be found hiking with his wife and two daughters in the White Mountains or along the Appalachian Trail.
Nathaniel Schutta
Author, speaker, software engineer focused on user interface design.
Nathaniel T. Schutta is a senior software engineer in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota with extensive experience developing Java Enterprise Edition–based Web applications. He graduated from St. John’s University (MN) with a degree in Computer Science and has a master’s of science degree in software engineering from the University of Minnesota. For the last several years, he has focused on user interface design. A long-time member of the Association for Computing Machinery’s Computer-Human Interaction Special Interest Group, Nathaniel believes that if the user can’t figure out your application, then you’ve done something wrong. Along with his user interface work, Nathaniel is the cocreator of the open-source Taconite framework, has contributed to two corporate Java frameworks, has developed training material, and has led several study groups. During the brief moments of warm weather found in his home state of Minnesota, he spends as much time on the golf course as his wife will tolerate. He’s currently exploring Ruby, Rails, and (after recently making the switch) Mac OS X. Nathaniel is the coauthor of the bestselling book, Foundations of Ajax.
Scott Davis
Author of "Groovy Recipes" & TDD Expert
Scott Davis is an internationally recognized author and speaker. He is passionate about open source solutions and agile development. He has worked on a variety of Java platforms, from J2EE to J2SE to J2ME (sometimes all on the same project).
Scott's books include Groovy Recipes: Greasing the Wheels of Java, GIS for Web Developers: Adding Where to Your Web Applications, The Google Maps API, and JBoss At Work.
Scott is the Editor in Chief of aboutGroovy.com, a news and information website that tracks the latest developments in Groovy and Grails. He also writes a regular column for IBM DeveloperWorks -- Mastering Grails.
Scott is a frequent presenter at national conferences (such as No Fluff, Just Stuff) and local user groups. He was the president of the Denver Java Users Group in 2003 when it was voted one of the top-ten JUGs in North America. After a quick move north, he is currently active in the leadership of the Boulder Java Users Group. Keep up with him at http://www.davisworld.org.
Ted Neward
Enterprise, Virtual Machine and Language Wonk
Ted Neward is an independent consultant specializing in high-scale enterprise systems, working with clients ranging in size from Fortune 500 corporations to small 20-person shops. He speaks on the conference circuit, including the No Fluff Just Stuff Symposium tour, discussing Java, .NET and XML service technologies, focusing on Java-.NET interoperability. He has written several widely-recognized books in both the Java and .NET space, including the recently-released "Effective Enterprise Java". He lives in the Pacific Northwest with his wife, two sons, four video-game consoles, thousands of books (on programming and otherwise), and eight PCs.
Venkat Subramaniam
Founder of Agile Developer, Inc.
Dr. Venkat Subramaniam, founder of Agile Developer, Inc., has trained and mentored thousands of software developers in the US, Canada, Europe, and Asia. Venkat helps his clients effectively apply and succeed with agile practices on their software projects, and speaks frequently at international conferences and user groups. He is author of ".NET Gotchas" (O'Reilly), coauthor of 2007 Jolt Productivity Award winning "Practices of an Agile Developer" (Pragmatic Bookshelf), and author of "Programming Groovy: Dynamic Productivity for the Java Developer" (Pragmatic Bookshelf).
