Yes, I know, I teach a java-based course. That is, the WebSphere course I teach involves using ViaualAge for Java to build java servlets, JSPs (java server pages), and EJBs (enterprise java beans) to create commercial e-business websites. However, I am not a java programmer. VA-J helps you build these servlets, etc. There are wizzards and smart-guides that ask questions and generate much of the code. Besides which, I am not teaching them how to write programs in java; java proficiency is a prerequisite of the course. My lectures don't concern writing specific pieces of code, they deal with architectural issues: how to design and build complex websites that are robust and extensible and scalable, about CORBA and the J2EE spec and EJBs and distributed component architectures... I rarely lecture on any specifics of java syntax. However... I am bothered by my lack of proficiency in java. So... I could just work on it on my own... but I don't have the time to spare to work on getting my java skill up-to-speed... and also I've been considering getting java certified. (Java certification is a prerequisite to WebSphere certification)... and so rather than trying to sqeeze in time here and there to play with java I decided that the fastest and most efficient thing would be to just take a course. This particular course is part of Sun's training and they are, after all, the folks who invented java... Based on the first day of the course I have to say that I think the instructor is quite good. She's been in the computer field since the late sixties (when she was programming down on the bare metal, working with octal arithmetic) and truly seems to enjoy what she is doing. (One thing that is missing in this facility is the kind of projection capability that I've come to expect as standard equipment in a classroom, but so far it has not been a problem.) Okay, that's the java, where's the opera? Sean has been supplying the opera. (I was thinking that maybe I should say Napster has been supplying the opera, but in fact some if it has come from CDs that have been around the house... including some from a CD Jennifer had from when she was in high school and was training for an academic decathalon team.) Yes, this is the same 15-yr-old who is usually playing punk rock and alternative rock with an bit of techno thrown in from time to time. He actually has quite eclectic tastes in music. He is a bit fan of punk and alternative bands, but he is capable of appreciating a wide range of music... sometimes the mix of songs he listens to will go from punk to Sinatra to a Scot drinking song, to some Arabic music, to a techno remake of a rock oldie, to a Beatles track... but mostly it's punk and alternative. Lately, however, he's been mixing in a lot of opera and tonight almost everything he was playing was opera. It's past eleven p.m.... guess I'd better check email (home and work) and post this and try to read a little bit from a java text and then see if I can get in a good eight hours sleep before my alarm goes off at 5:30 am. Hmmmmm. |
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