Mashups, SQL, and Java Futures

Build mashups with portlets; browse SQL DBs; and see the future.

Sun recently posted a new article on building Ajax-enabled mashups with Sun Java System Portal Server 7.

Mashups are gaining interest as more companies such as Google, Yahoo, Amazon, and eBay offer web-service APIs to their core data. To build a mashup, you need access to a minimum of two data sources that can be combined to create a service, which is not otherwise available from either source.

This article discusses how Java Portal Server makes it easy to build Ajax-enabled mashup portlets. Portlets themselves can then be arranged and rearranged into new web applications, in a sense providing a mashup of mashups. Better yet, Sun has created an open source portlet repository on Java.net where you can download available portlets, contribute your own, and discuss portlet and mashup issues with a community of developers like you.

Sun Java System Portal Server 7

Sun’s Portal Server a very complete product that not only supports portlet development and deployment, but the following features as well:

• Identity-based content delivery
• Wikis
• Surveys and polls
• Mobile access
• Interportlet communication
• Text and federated search with taxonomies
• Java Studio Creator IDE integration

Eclipse SQL Explorer

If you’re looking for a tool to visually browse and query your JDBC-compliant database, the newly released Eclipse SQL Explorer is for you. Not only does it support any JDBC-compliant SQL database, it comes with plugins with specialized support for Oracle, DB2, and MySQL. You can also extend it yourself to provide specialized support for any other JDBC database you might use.

The Future of Java

I recently wrote a three part article series on the future of Java. The articles discuss Java’s moves in the consumer space, the future of Java on the desktop and in the enterprise, and include interviews with key people within Sun, such as Mark Herring, Ray Ganns, and Mark Reinhold. You can read each of the articles through these links:

• The Future of Java: Part 1
• The Future of Java: Part 2
• The Future of Java: Part 3

Posted by Eric Bruno at 11:16 AM  Permalink