Jakub Korab

I think it’s fair to say that I have worked in a few places during my time in IT. The same issues, problems, discussions seem to pop up all the time. One of my biggest annoyances is that the moment a dependency is added into a development project, it’s cast in concrete. Getting rid of that bug that’s been fixed in a newer version of a Jar always has to be balanced against the risk that something is going to break. Your program may still compile, but what if some strange behaviour has been introduced under the covers? And when you’re on a time-limited project (aren’t they all), no justification seems to be enough to move forward.

That problem seems to be compounded with JVMs. In theory, the vast majority of Java programs will run on a newer JVM. An upgrade may give you newer features (annotations anyone?), a performance increase and nicer APIs. But that’s not the only reason to upgrade! You may not necessarily need or use any of those thing, but newer dependent libraries in your project might. How many times have you sighed as that great library you wanted to use that would save you days needed a better spec’ed JVM? Is it worth the effort or is this just a fact of life?

What are the human factors in getting that upgrade approved? Should upgrades be factored into maintenance on a project as a necessary thing? If approved, how do you manage the risks and prove that your code will run as before - particularly if as with most places, no automated unit tests are in place.

We are going to be covering some of these issues at the Dublin JUG tomorrow night. Anyone interested in coming down and having their 2 cents on the subject should drop by at the Forum Bar on Dame St at 7:30.

Ahmed Hashim from the Egypt JUG wrote an excellent post a while back
about how to run a successful JUG. Great post, I'll probably use it as a
checklist.

http://egjug.org/hashimblog/2006/10/14/how-to-make-a-successful-java-user-group/

Since posting last week on the name change I have been approached with
offers of sponsorship, as well as help from other JUGs. Greatly appreciated.

The people have spoken. The Dublin Java Meetup Group is now officially changing its name to the Dublin Java Users Group.

I’ve been going over ideas for pushing the JUG ahead over the coming months. So far pie in the sky stuff, but you have to have an agenda:
- meetups (of course - the forum over pints isn’t going anywhere)
- regular presentation sessions
- all day code workshops dealing with a particular technology (byo laptop)
- a one day mini conference (Java RIA anyone?)

I feel the ball is starting to get rolling.

Over the coming months I’m going to be relaunching the Java Meetup that I organize. Hopefully rebranding it to a JUG will get a few more eyeballs on the group’s activities as it expands from a monthly drinks and discussion format. Some of the ideas I’m hoping to try out are coding workshops and perhaps even a mini-conference.

Already the change of name seems to have support, and I’ve even had offers of help in moving the idea along. Any ideas, comments, or help would be greatly appreciated.