OO Programming Newsletter #31 from Bruce Eckel September 2001 = = = Contents = = = * The Seminar Schedule: -- SF Bay area Thinking in Java seminar, November 5-9 -- J2EE, SF Bay area December 10-14 -- New "Design Patterns Applied" seminar with Alan Shalloway, December 3-7 in Seattle * Interview up on www.informit.com * New server colocation * Book Master Download Site * Working on TIJ Solutions (finally!) * Amazon comments * Small update to "Thinking in C++ Volume 1" * Project workshops * Direct mail ideas? See the Calendar for the current schedule: http://www.mindview.net/Calendar =================================== * The seminar schedule --- Thinking in Java, November 5-9 SF Bay area Created by Bruce Eckel We believe this is the best in-depth introduction to Java that you'll find. It's based on the book "Thinking in Java, 2nd Edition": http://www.mindview.net/Seminars/ThinkingInJava/ Please register early to ensure that we'll have enough people to hold the seminar. --- Design Patterns Applied, December 3-7 With Bruce Eckel and Alan Shalloway (author of "Design Patterns Explained"). A hands-on design course focusing on the process of creating and reviewing designs. Not language specific, but you should have a background in at least one OO language. There's a $300 discount if you've had the "Objects & Patterns" seminar already. http://www.netobjectives.com/c_dpa.htm You can find all the seminars listed on the calendar: http://www.mindview.net/Calendar =================================== * Interview up on www.informit.com This inteview is more about how I got where I did, my attitudes about writing, what I'm trying to accomplish, etc. It's linked to the front page on Informit. =================================== * New server colocation After the second DSL company I was using went out of business within 6 months, I decided to co-locate the server, and Bill Ostaski at Cove Communications (www.cove.com) offered to help. Both he and my jack-of-all-trades server guy evan@theUnixMan.com have coordinated the transition wonderfully. Many thanks to both of you. The new server (upgraded to 1.4 Ghz, 1 Gbyte and all the latest Linux and Zope stuff) is up and flying along on a T1 line. =================================== * Book Master Download Site During the server transition, I decided (A) I needed an "official" main book download site and (B) I didn't want to wear out my welcome at cove.com, so I got a separate account just for downloads at Intermedia.net, which claims to be connected to the 'Mae West' Internet trunk (and thus very fast). The 'master' book download site should ease problems with downloads or if your local mirrors haven't updated themselves yet. It's the top link in the download list, so you can't miss it: http://www.mindview.net/Books/DownloadSites =================================== * Working on TIJ Solutions (finally!) Yes, after almost 1.5 years (blush) I've been able to motivate myself to do the solution guide -- and what a learning experience it has been (I'm almost done with Chapter 11 at this writing). For one thing, it's a big job, about like writing a small book. And I've found a few glitches in the exercises themselves, which I'll correct in an updated online version of Thinking in Java. After getting a couple of gripes about not having the solutions in the book, I did a little research and added the following FAQ: http://www.mindview.net/Etc/FAQ.html#SolutionGuide I'll announce the solutions in this newsletter when they're ready. Again, sorry for the delay. =================================== * Amazon comments I made the mistake of looking at some of the Amazon comments on "Thinking in Java" a couple of weeks ago. I know I shouldn't, and it was really an accident, but some of the comments were fairly ... strange. For example, one person commented that he was a Journalism major so maybe "that was part of the problem," but then went on to complain that the book wasn't introductory enough for him. Stuff like that. I know I shouldn't let these things bother me, but they do, a little. If you like Thinking in Java and the spirit moves you, please make a comment on Amazon so we can push the strange ones down the stack a little. Thanks! =================================== * Small update to "Thinking in C++ Volume 1" I've made a small number of corrections to the online version of Thinking in C++, 2nd edition, Volume 1, primarily to allow the code to compile with Gnu g++ 3.0.1. Most of the reflection sites have not updated to the new version so you will probably want to get it directly from the master download site: http://www.mindviewinc.com/Books/ =================================== * Project workshops Based on the positive experiences of this past summer with my "Thinking in Patterns Book Working Sessions" and the requests from other instructors, I want to hold more of these events which are a little more free form, project based, and which people can come to again and again and get something new each time. One thing I realized is that people don't have to be working on the same projects. At the last working session, we had two people who were working on a Python project, and everyone else was working on the patterns book. Because of the nature of the workshop, we could have any number of projects going on simultaneously with no clashing; in fact, there might be a kind of cross-pollination going on. For example, we could offer: - Developing book examples (like we did this Summer) - Working on a specific open-source project (like the Zope BackTalk this Summer) - A "project consulting retreat," where you bring your team members to work on your project with us around, and when you need feedback we're there to consult with. In the environment of a project workshop, this could be a lower-cost consulting alternative. As another possibility, Andrea has been wanting (for a long time) to do a workshop where he designs a project and breaks it up into pieces. People working on his project would be divided into teams; each team would work on a piece and on the last day the pieces would be integrated. This could be a great way to kick off an open-source project. If you have other brainstorms about Project Workshops let me know... =================================== * Direct mail ideas? Most of the seminars we've given in particular locations seem to end up with the large majority of people flying in from elsewhere. Since people are understandably less interested in flying these days, it makes sense to try to draw folks from a particular area, using postcards. My theory is that if you go just to the companies that say they do computer stuff, you miss a lot of computer developers who work for companies that aren't specifically into development. For example, in the Pacific Northwest the two largest employers of computer programmers are #1 Weyerhauser (wood & paper products) and #2 Boeing (which is moving elsewhere). So by just targeting software companies one misses out on much larger markets. So my plan is to mail to several thousand of the largest companies in the SF Bay area (since that's where we're having the Thinking in Java seminar, and the Art & Technology of Web Design seminar), regardless of what those companies do, and assume that a fair number of them have departments or groups involved in computer technology. Also, I think it might make sense to send the card to "training manager", which is typically the person that makes the training decisions, and is someone who's not normally on this newsletter list. Andrea has suggested that he take the "Thinking in Java" seminar on the road (which many people have requested). He'll fly, so you don't have to. For this, we'd have to target specific regions. My head swims thinking about the management of all this... I've started looking at mailing list companies and brokers, but I have the feeling there might be a more clever (and cheaper?) way to build a list. Please let me know if you have ideas or pointers. Thanks! ___| Until Next Time... |________________________ Java programming questions: http://www.mindview.net/Books/TIJ/JavaQuestions.html Speaking & Seminar schedule: http://www.mindview.net/Calendar/ Anyone can sign up for this free newsletter by sending an email to join-eckel-oo-programming@earth.lyris.net. Bruce Eckel http://www.mindview.net