Chris Johnston

I have just discovered three tools, or Java applications, that no Java programmer should do without. If you have not heard about these tools or are not using these tools and you program in Java you are seriously missing the boat. These three tools are:

• Ant - A Java build tool similar to Make for C
• Log4j - A logging library that makes adding trace statements incredibly simple
• JUnit - A tool for doing Unit Testing of Java classes and methods

Over the next few weeks, look for some articles and some links for each of these three tools.

Post a comment if you want one. I have 4 or 5 of them to give away. Remember to include your email address or it’s your loss.

I am thinking of taking the content of this little website in a slightly new direction. Currently I am working on a lot of J2EE apps as well as Flash Remoting apps. Therefore, I am going to try and concentrate on putting content online that pertains to those two areas. Since ColdFusion MX is really just a RAD tool for J2EE development, look for a lot more CFMX content as well as Linux content as it pertains to Java and J2EE.

I think one of the things that has happened lately is that I have lost focus on the kind of things that I post on the site here. Hopefully, adding some form of focus to things will result in a lot more content being added.

In addition, I am working on a new system of placing content onto the site. This will result in the ability to add things like articles, reviews, blog entries and news items all from one central editor. These sections will also be reflected in the menu as well.

The other thing that I am going to try to do is to put a lot more content onto the site about the site itself and what I am doing to it and how it is built.

Just thought I would let people know.