September 25, 2002
Class.forName() is evil...

Class.forName() is evil...

I guess I'll be looking at a couple of my things again...

Posted by Simon Brunning at 02:05 PM
J2EE Container Shootout

J2EE Container Shootout Summary

Don't access the database directly from Servlets and JSP, use EJB intead. EJB caches data for web applications very well and can be ten times faster than ordinary database access.

Via rebelutionary.

Posted by Simon Brunning at 01:55 PM
Software Engineering for Everyone

Software Engineering for Everyone is an interesting read.

Got this from vsbabu.org.

I would certainly not call myself a software engineer at the moment. I don't think I have ever worked with anyone that I'd call an engineer, either.

I have decided that it's time for a new language, so I'm finally going to give Haskell a go. I've got Simon Thompson's The Craft of Functional Programming. One of the things that I find interesting about functional programming is that is amenable to proof - you can prove a program correct. Whether this is useful in terms of non-trivial development is something I don't know yet, but it will be interesting to find out.

Update: Functional Programming Koans.

Posted by Simon Brunning at 01:41 PM
Physics applets

I really don't know which category to put these physics applets under.

Science and Technology 'cos they are for science education, Toys 'cos they are fun, or Java 'cos that's what they are written in? Bah, who cares, just enjoy!

Via FARK.

Posted by Simon Brunning at 01:20 PM
The tube strike

Finally made it in at ten - just an hour late, despite the strike. Not bad!

Thank goodness for the 133! It wasn't so good for everyone, though - I got on at the first stop, but the bus was full after a couple of stops, and stopped picking people up. That's the trick, I think. If at all possible, get on the bus where it starts. The 133 starts Southbound somewhere around Liverpool St., so that's where I'll go on the way home.

And another thing - who said that Britain is a nation of queuers? Wouldn't have taken long to dispel that quaint notion this morning - when a bus draws up, it's everyone for themselves. Despite being at the first stop, and just missing the previous bus, I only just got a seat. I'll just have to learn to be ruder, I suppose.

Posted by Simon Brunning at 01:15 PM