105. Migrating to Java 6
Version 6.0

This course shows Java-1.4 developers the new language features in Java 5 and 6, and, more importantly, illustrates best programming practices as they've been affected by these new features.  This is an accelerated course that assumes long experience with earlier versions of Java.  Students will leave familiar with various new bits of syntax, and also with an understanding of the exciting new options they have for API design and general-purpose Java 6 coding.

Prerequisites

  * Plenty of experience with Java programming using the 1.4 SDK is essential.

Learning Objectives

  * Take advantage of ease-of-use features including the simplified for loop, auto-boxing, and varargs.
  * Use and develop enumerated types, including those with their own state and inherent behavior.
  * Use generics effectively when coding to the Collections API.
  * Develop one's own generic types.
  * Use Java annotations as defined by other APIs, and develop one's own.
  * Understand issues of compatibility and migration in mixed 1.4/5 environments.
  * Develop annotation processors according to the new standard API, and plug them into Java compilers and other tools.
  * Use built-in support for XML binding via JAXB.
  * Use built-in support for web-service clients via JAX-WS.

Timeline: 2 days.

IDE Support: Eclipse Galileo

In addition to the primary lab files, an optional overlay is available that adds support for Eclipse Galileo.  Students can perform all coding and most testing and debugging tasks from within the IDE.  Some testing occurs in external command consoles: testing pluggable annotation processors and hosting web services in the Tomcat server.  See also our orientation to Using Capstone's Eclipse Overlays, and please be advised that this is an optional feature; it is not a separate version of the course, and the course itself does not contain explicit Eclipse-specific lab instructions.


Module 1. New Features in Java 5

Chapter 1. Ease-of-Use Features
    Goals of Java 5
    Simplified for Loop
    Variable Parameter Lists
    Formatted Output
    Static Imports

Chapter 2. Enumerated Types
    Native Enumerations
    Ordinal and String Representations
    Looping Over Enums
    Stateful and Behavioral Enumerations

Chapter 3. Generics
    Using Generics
    Generics in the Collections API
    Developing Generic Classes
    Auto-Boxing
    Convertability of Generics
    Wildcards
    Type Erasure
    Generic Methods
    What You Can't Do
    Strong and Weak Suits

Chapter 4. Annotations
    Annotations
    Aspect-Oriented Programming
    Native Annotations
    The Java Annotations Model
    What Can Be Annotated
    Annotations vs. Descriptors
    Java EE Annotation Examples

Chapter 5. Compatibility and Migration
    Compatibility: Compiler and Runtime
    Mixing 1.4 and 5 Classes
    Compatibility with Generics: Type Erasure
    Compatibility with Enumerations and Varargs
    Migrating 1.4 Code to Java 5
    Runtime Type Safety with "Checked" Collections


Module 2. New Features in Java 6

Chapter 1. Annotation Processors
    Pluggable Annotation Processors
    Processing in Rounds
    Reading the Type Model
    Validation
    Generating Code
    Reading Resources
    Creating Source Files

Chapter 2. XML and Web Services APIs
    The Java API for XML Binding
    Binding vs. Parsing
    Generating an Object Model
    Working with JAXB Object Models
    JAXB Contexts, Marshallers, and Unmarshallers
    Interoperable Web Services
    SOAP and WSDL
    The Java API for XML Web Services
    Generating Proxies from WSDL
    Using Generated Proxies
    The Role of JAXB
    Building Client Applications


System Requirements

    Hardware, Minimum: 1.0 GHz, 512 meg RAM, 500 meg disk space.

    Hardware, Recommended: 1.5 GHz, 1 gig RAM, 1 gig disk space.

    Operating System: Tested on Windows XP Professional.  Course software should be viable on all systems which support a Java 6 Developer's Kit.

    Network and Security: Limited privileges required -- please see our standard security requirements at http://capcourse.com/Guides/Security.gen.html.

    Software Requirements:  All free downloadable tools.