Lightweight JSP development environments
jEdit with jGoodies
Jython is great
Fake J2EE is not that bad!
Respecting SQL
Excellent article/rant about Java, myth vs. reality. Also compares Java with other "technologies of tomorrow".
via Fozbaca.
There are lot of Java obsessed managers out there. They want to see if you know J2EE, J2ME and a whole lot of buzzwords. In my opinion, engineers should have learnability as their main strength. And problem solving abilities too.
Unfortunately, in USA, I’ve not seen that much importance in problem solving skills. It is more like "Oh, this person knows MS Access, so he must know SQL too. Then, he will certainly be able to work with Oracle". I’d rather ask whether this person knows how to choose between Oracle and Access.
The 'buzzword compliance' thing is certainly true. Better than just asking about the technologies, people should ask about techniques - 'What does "Model-View-Controller' mean to you?'. 'What are tag libraries good for - how can they improve the quality, and particularly maintainability, of your code'. That sort of thing.
Oh yes, and 'Do you know Python? ;-)