In Spring 3.0, Spring MVC will be augmented with REST support. This post describes how to use the REST support to implement an AtomView on top of a simple sample application. Follow this step-by-step process to see how easy it is to implement an AtomView on top of a simple application with the new REST [...]

Due to the extensive travel schedule of yours truly, we haven't had a meet up since last September. It's been almost half a year, so it's about time for another one. But, before we move on, I'd like to make point out a new Google Group that we have set up, to keep you posted about [...]

Now that the holiday season (at in the Netherlands that is) has almost ended, I thought it would be time for another Amsterdam Java Meetup. So, we reserved the good-old Jaren in the Nieuwe Doelenstraat again, for having a few (paid-for) drinks with fellow Java developers and everybody else that wants to join in. We're doing [...]

Three weeks ago, the SpringSource Tool Suite was released. Christian, in charge of this product blogged about it already and we also have a webinar available for those of you that want to get up to speed with all of the functionality it currently offers. In this entry, I wanted to highlight the runtime error reporting functionality specifically.

When I'm programming, sometimes, the console window shows dozens of stack traces due to some error I've caused. Sometimes, I'm lucky and the stack trace looks familiar. If so, then the problem is probably easy to solve. Sometimes however, the information you need is buried so deep inside all those stack traces, that figuring out what the real problem is takes a while.

With the introduction of the SpringSource Tool Suite, we've started to build up a online knowledge base that includes resolutions for common problems you might encounter. Using the knowledge base, you no longer have to browse through pages and pages of exception stack trace information. Instead clicking a simple button will run a query over the knowledge base and if possible cause is found, you automatically get relevant information that will help you solve your particular problem. The quick screencast below should give you some insight into the functionality. Note that the full screen functionality of blip.tv works fairly well, so in case the fonts are a bit small in some parts of the screen cast, using the full screen mode solves this.

We have just started out filling the knowledge base and with the release of the tool suite, it'll probably contain a wealth of errors already. But obviously, the knowledge base cannot hold a resolution for every problem you might encounter. That's why we are constantly adding information about potential errors ourselves, but also allow you to add particular error conditions with suggested solutions. Authoring tools are available directly inside the IDE, so you don't have to bother about using some kind of proprietary XML format. All content submitting by you (and other developers) will periodically be reviewed and released as an update to the knowledge base. In a next screen cast, I'll highlight this functionality.

I'm am really excited about this particular feature of the SpringSource Tool Suite as it will help me get my errors out of the way much quicker than in the past. If you're interested in reviewing the SpringSource Tool Suite, please visit the product page on our web site where currently, you can download a beta after having registered. On that page, we also have a longer webinar available in which Christian Dupuis explains the SpringSource Tool Suite in much more detail.

It's been a while… for the Amsterdam Java Meetup that is. I've been traveling a lot and haven't been able to organize another meetup past quarter. But here we go again: the (almost) quarterly Amsterdam Java Meetup with free drinks (or at least, the first few rounds) will be hosted in grand-cafe de Jaren in Amsterdam (see below for more info on the location) on the 23rd of May. You can expect many Java devs (usually between 50 and 80 people turn up), technical as well as non-technical discussions and of course, the latest gossip in the Dutch Java industry. We'd love to hear from people from 'the other side' (other other sides, I should say) as well, so if you're doing Ruby or .NET, don't hesitate to join in too!!

Spread the news and link to this blog entry or to the corresponding Upcoming.org page. You're welcome to leave a comment if you're attending. See you there!

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