Archive Index

Self Publications

10/02/05: Head First Design Patterns Book Review
Abstract. No innovation after structured programming and object orientation has had as much impact on the art of constructing software systems as design patterns. In fact, it is hard to understand and practice effective object orientation without being conscious of design patterns and their suitability for the problem at hand. The same is true for teaching and learning basics and principles of object orientation. It is often much easier to first learn about the design problem and the pattern based solution and then figure out how the solution satisfies principles of object orientation. This is the exact approach taken by O'Reilly's Head First Design Patterns book.

9/22/05: The Best Software Writing I Book Review
Abstract. The Best Software Writing I is a collection of essays and articles on Software, selected, compiled and introduced by Joel Spolsky of Joel on Software fame. Most of articles in this collection refelect the contrarian style of Joel's own writings -- a story telling approach, mixing of humor, preference to simplicity and sloppiness (over complexity and rigor), disregard for the established, and acknowledgement of the diversity (in programing talent).

9/18/05: Best Of Joel Best Writings
Abstract. Best of Joel is a collection of links to top 20% of Joel's witings, ranked by number of backlinks to each page.

8/28/05: BeanShell, Rhino and Java -- Performance Comparison Java Article
Abstract. This article compares the execution speed of a simple program under three different Java-based execution environments: BeanShell, JavaScript engine Rhino and Java. The performance test program consists of two parts: genration of an array of 20 character long random strings and arranging the strings in lexicographycally descending order using bubble sort. The performance numbers, though not unexpected, are interesting to anyone who wants to leverage the power of dynamic languages without compromising too much on performance.

8/13/05: JBoss - A Developer's Notebook Book Review
Abstract. Controversies aside, JBoss has emerged as a credible alternative to commercial J2EE App Servers for developing and deploying Java based server applications. Besides the usual advantages of open source and GPL licensing, what sets it apart is its JMX based microkernel, a light-weight framework to run independently developed Java programs within a single JVM. Together, these make it possible for one to pick and choose components and assemble a custom server anywhere between the two extremes (and beyond!) of a simple Servlet Container and a full-fledged J2EE Server.

7/26/05: Supercharging BeanShell with Ant Java Article
Abstract. This article explains how to execute any Ant task from within a BeanShell script, bringing the rich and growing Ant task library to BeanShell programmers and, in the process, vastly increasing its potential for serious scripting. This kind of bridging is good for Ant as well, allowing Ant tasks to be used within familiar control and looping constructs.

7/12/05: Ant - The Definitive Guide Book Review
Abstract. Apache Ant, the Java replacement for make, belongs to the rare breed of category killer software for automating Java software development tasks. As a long time Ant user, I have written many Ant build scripts, automating my builds and speeding up the overall development cycle, mostly relying on its excellent online documentation. As a Java developer, I have admired its simple and intuitive interface and the modular design. So on getting Ant The Definitive Guide in my hands I wasn't expecting a whole lot new to learn, and thought of using it only as a reference book for occasional use.

© 2005 by pankaj Kumar. All Rights Reserved. You may use the content of these articles, including the source code, in your programs and documentation. In general, you do not need to contact me for permission unless you are reproducing a signficant portion of the article or code for commercial purposes. For example, writing a program that uses the code for personal or comapny use does not require permission. Republishing this article, even with proper attribution, does require permission. Similarly, incorporating the code in a program that you sell for profit requires permission.

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You can contact me by sending e-mail to pankaj.kumar@gmail.com.