At Web Age Solutions, we have the challenging task of not only keeping up with technology specifications but whether clients are actually using those technologies. We have started to see much more interest in Java EE 6 training on various platforms so this is obviously taking hold.
Java EE 6 had the unenviable distinction of being released pretty much right as companies were trying to dig out of the 2008-2009 economic downturn. So even though it did take 1-2 years for all of the major server platforms to release versions that supported it, many clients were taking a “wait and see” approach to upgrading. Since companies first have to upgrade to the most recent platform before they can even think about using the new technology that is available it has taken until now to really start seeing that take hold. Even JBoss clients, which usually take a more “figure it out on our own” approach, are doing training to make sure they can fully take advantage of the latest JBoss version, including the very different administration model (which we cover in our WA2060 JBoss Administration and Clustering course).
One of the primary barriers to taking advantage of what the new platform can do is simply knowing what is available. Quite often projects take an approach of “we do it this way because we’ve always done it this way” and don’t look for ways to improve and simplify their applications by leveraging new approaches to programming. With Java EE 6 (and soon Java EE 7) continuing to expand the possibilities that are out there this is becoming more of an issue. We are a long way from the days when only Servlets/JSP were “standard” and you needed a thick “patterns” book just to create your own web framework.
To further support those that might be looking for Java EE 6 training, I’ve updated all of our course maps for Java EE 6 training on the major platforms. These course maps show a different path depending on if you are familiar with the big changes introduced in Java EE 5 since several clients often skip versions of a server and in particular we are seeing migration paths like WebSphere 6.1 –> WebSphere 8.x. These course maps also mention some of the Spring 3 training classes we offer since clients sometimes do training in that area as well.
Java EE 6 Course Map for WebSphere 8.5
Java EE 6 Course Map for WebSphere 8.0
Java EE 6 Course Map for WebLogic 12c
Java EE 6 Course Map for JBoss
Looking to the future, the Java EE 7 specifications are finalized and servers are being updated right now to fully support them. JBoss is as well and will probably be released early next year (they say this year but JBoss is always missing release deadlines). The tricky thing is that the open source project is being renamed to “Wildfly” and the “JBoss” name will be reserved for only the supported version. There is already a version mismatch between the two and now having two different names I think is going to cause more confusion but we will see.
As servers release support for Java EE 7 I think the goal is to try and release classes as early as possible. This will depend somewhat of course on which servers release support first. We are going to be working internally to develop ways where we can develop hands-on labs that are more modular and can be more easily reused in different courses so we can start developing those early and support more clients that are “early adopters” and want to upgrade quickly. Java EE 7 contains a lot of updates as well so we are looking forward to introducing that to clients as they start moving to servers that support it!
Now we get to sit back and enjoy watching the “race” of which server supports Java EE 7 first. Any bets?
