Building Java GUIs with Netbeans 5.0 Matisse

If there is one solid reason to look at the Netbeans 5.0 release, then all the hype I have been hearing is defintely centered around the new GUI builder called Matisse which is included in 5.0.

Matisse has been referred to as the VisualBasic style GUI builder for Java – at long last we have a simple and effective way of being able to build GUI layouts in a simple drag and drop way. Dick Wall (one of the presenters on The JavaPosse podcast), gives an overview in this article on the developer.com website.

Programming the New Web – OpenSpace Conference

I just heard about this conference in an interview with Bruce Eckel on The JavaPosse Podcast. If you have some free time and are able to attend this conference, this sounds like an awesome opportunity to network with others in the industry and find out what other people are currently working on and where they think the Web-app software development industry is heading.

This is the first time I have heard of the concept of an ‘OpenSpace’ Conference. This is an intriguing concept – basically there is no schedule or agenda for the conference – well there is in terms of predefined time slots for sessions, but the material to be presented and discussed in these sessions is up to the attendees to both decide and present/discuss. Wow, what an interesting concept. I would love to attend this to see how it goes, but I imagine the content will be very dynamic, and since the material is driven around what the attendees what to talk about, I imagine the content will be as current as you can get, and only center around topics that are of interest for the current point in time. Sounds like an awesome conference! I hope Bruce can get some transcripts of some of the sessions online for the rest of us unable to attend.

Google enters Office Applications business

Google has annouced it has bought a company called Writely that has a web-based Word Processor product.

After speculation that Google was going to integrate Open Office into it’s product offerings by web-enabling the office productivity suite, it now has it’s own web-based Word Processor. At this point it is unclear what Google’s plans are, although it is obvious it is looking to compete with Microsoft in an area that has for a long time been dominated by Microsoft Office.