!!! ElementTree for Java

At last  when I needed a small and easy to use XML parser (which DOM and JAXP aren't) I ported the famous Python's [[ElementTree -> http://effbot.org/zone/element-index.htm]] API for XML parsing in a few hours.
This work is far from complete but the parsing part is working. (to be done: writing, Xpath-like- and tree- traversing)

Download: [[(Attach:)elementtree.tar.gz]]

This work is based on [[XmlPull API -> http://xmlpull.org/]]. You will need (download separately) ''xmlpull_1_1_3*.jar'' and a parser implementation; I recommend ''[[XPP -> http://www.extreme.indiana.edu/xgws/xsoap/xpp/mxp1/index.html]]'' (the "min" variant is both small and fast).

!!! Configuration items for Java/J2EE tools I collected over time

* General [[Eclipse settings -> (Attach:)eclipse-settings.txt]] for Java development
* Eclipse [[workspace settings -> (Attach:)eclipse-workspace.txt]]
* basic [[log4j configuration -> (Attach:)log4j.xml]]
* how to
  [[setup a production Tomcat -> (Attach:)tomcat-settings.txt]]
  and small Tomcat 6 patches: [[system JRE detection -> (Attach:)tomcat-patch00.diff]],
  [[class loader refinement -> (Attach:)tomcat-patch01.diff]]
* how to (basically) [[enable remote JMX -> (Attach:)jmx-simple.txt]] in a JVM
* Some extensions for java.util.logging:
  [[binary -> (Attach:)jul-util.jar]],
  [[source -> (Attach:)jul-util-src.tar.gz]]
  and sample [[(Attach:)logging.properties]] (used for Tomcat)
* a JNDI viewer JSP page (requires JSTL 1.2): [[source -> (Attach:)jndiview.jsp.txt]]
* a Unix (Bourne) shell script I use to repack Java software to a (much!) smaller size -- typically ⅓ :
  [[jarlist.sh -> (Attach:)jarlist.sh.txt]],
  and the associated unpacker [[binary -> (Attach:)auto-unpack.jar]] and [[source -> (Attach:)AutoUnpack.tar.gz]]
* Ant resources for Java projects:
  this [[pack -> (Attach:)antpack.tar.gz]] contains
  a master build file, build unit properties, and other extensions
* sample [[JAXB external binding -> (Attach:)sample-binding.xml]] file
  to specify per input-file target package,
  and similarly for [[JAXWS external binding -> (Attach:)sample-jaxws-binding.xml]];
  And associated [[converter class -> (Attach:)DateJaxbConverter.java]] to avoid XmlGregorianCalendar.
* a micro JAXWS servlet to publish web services on JEE5 (or servlet+Java6 or servlet+Java5+JaxWS impl): 
  [[source -> (Attach:)jaxws-util-src.tar.gz]] and [[binary -> (Attach:)jaxws-util.jar]].
  Includes a micro JSP-EL based template engine (because JSP pages cannot be embedded in a jar).
  This is upwardly compatible with, and takes advantage in advance of, JAX-WS 2.2 spi.http API.

!!! Links from a training session

I have had a general J2EE survey which gave me some coverage on J2EE standards. However I'm still missing extended descriptions on timers, web services and JSF.

* http://java-source.net/
* http://javatoolbox.com/
* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_application_servers#Java_EE

!!! I am currently learning JavaEE 5.

I have already practiced [more or less] persistence (JPA), EJB (stateless session, message driven), servlets, JMS.
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Now I'm rather interested in architectural aspects, relating to
* transactions,
* clustering,
* EJBs in general,
* timers,
* JCA ("connectors"),
* web-services,
* servlet finer details (such as filters, listeners),
* JSP and JSF.

I would like to see how some kind of Ajax + REST + MVC framework could be built around standardized technologies of the Java world.

Also, I would like to investigate whether EasyBeans is a suitable platform for production applications in the industry.
\\
Until now it looks promising: embedded in Tomcat it starts in 3-4 seconds with Java6, compared to JBoss 30-50s startup it's much more comfortable for development.
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However as always in Java world, documentation is quite poor, especially when time comes for configuration: I don't know yet how to...
* configure logging so that it follows other packages' logging format (especially Tomcat)
* plug a database connection which is not HSQL
* persist JMS messages in that database
* configure (JMS, JNDI, JPA, etc) for clustering
* get a decent [JMX] administration console (installing Jonas and it's Flex app isn't an option)

Some people around me said Sun's tutorial is a good way to get full coverage of this standard.

So I have started to read it.
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Here is where I stopped reading: [[(Attach:)J2e5tutostate.txt]]
\\
Here are some notes I took along: [[(Attach:)J2e5summary.txt]]

2009-07-21
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Having found missing information about demonstration of many specification details, I have temporarily stopped reading this document.

At work I have searched for lightweight MVC + template web toolkits, without success.  Since recent work in Python I know a template engine can be small enough for my requirements, and I now have good grasp on MVC designs, so I started to write this desired lightweight toolkit:
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Here is the current state of sources: [[(Attach:)butterflyweb-src.zip]]

'''UPDATE!''' I have stopped this small development after discovering an existing framework with acceptable performance/weight ratio: [[http://www.stripesframework.org/display/stripes | Stripes]].  I was pointed to this during a training session and have since used it in a prototype with success.