We consider TSSJS an extension of TSS.com - A resource, a gathering place and a sounding board for the enterprise Java community. We're not interested in making you drink the Kool-Aid, and we don't have any investment in what language, framework or plug-in you choose - We just want you to be informed. Register before this Friday, January 11 to get a free book - And to pay the Super Early Bird price. Details are below, and available here. Over three days at TSSJS, you will learn to do more with your existing skill-set and become a better developer. Here are some conference highlights: Language-Oriented Programming: Shifting Paradigms - This keynote from Neal Ford (Architect at ThoughtWorks and author of Art of Java Web Development) is an update of the presentation he and Martin Fowler gave to rave reviews at TSSJS-Europe in 2007. Neal will: Explore how using domain specific languages evolves the way we build and use frameworks, review real world DSLs like business rules, internal and external DSLs, and describe how to build them in all languages, not just dynamically-typed ones. Read the complete abstract here. Staying off the Bus: SOA Strategies without ESBs - Get strategies that allow you to provide the more promising ESB capabilities (orchestration, event-processing, data transformation, quality of service metrics, etc.) by leveraging existing Web services implementations. This is a session in our SOA track - From "Market"ecture to Architecture. Other SOA-focused sessions include: Apache Synapse, How to Implement an ESB Using Mule, SOAP and REST and more. Get all the session details here. Multi-language Development - The growing use of multi-core CPUs to increase computing performance means it's likely that future applications will be built using multiple programming languages, often integrated through an underlying virtual machine. This session explores a variety of different programming languages, their strengths and weaknesses, and delves into the challenges to expect (and how to address them) when developing multi-language applications. This is a session in our Languages and Coding track - Development Kung F00. (Yes, we're geeks, we're pwnt, we're l337, etc. Feel free to complain to the track chair, even though he's not the one who came up with the name. :) Other language-focused sessions include: Tactical Design, Unit Testing in Java, HTTP for Web Developers and more. Get all the session details here. Building Web Applications with Spring and JSF - This session with Rob Harrop, author of Pro Spring and core developer of the Spring framework, will teach you how to use Web Flow and Spring Faces to develop more easily with JSF - including patterns and practices for getting the most out of Spring in a JSF application. This is a session in our Frameworks track - The Framework Impasse. Other framework-focused sessions include: RESTful Applications with Struts 2, Introduction to Seam, Ajax Framework Comparison and more. Get all the session details here. TSSJS also features tracks devoted to Case Studies, Architecture, Persistence, The Presentation Tier and High Performance Computing. We're really excited about this year's agenda - and we're so sure you will leave TSSJS armed with practical, useable skills that can be immediately applied to your projects, that we will refund your registration fee if you're not satisfied. The complete agenda will be posted later this week. Register this week - You'll pay the Super Early Bird rate (which is $300 off) and you'll get to choose a free book. Quantities are limited and quickly (Seriously - Quickly.) running out. Choices include Programming Interviews Exposed: Secrets to Landing Your Next Job, Expert One-on-One J2EE Development without EJB, Professional Java JDK 6 Edition and more. Register now.

When I first saw the the announcement of the conference several weeks ago, I immediately talked to my boss about having the company send a few of us there. However, having read yesterday's post about Zed Shawn's rant (as well as the rent itself) at <http://www.theserverside.com/news/thread.tss?thread_id=48013>), I started looking at a few things differently. In this newly found worldview of mine having a consulting company give a keynote on "Shifting Paradigms" is the very definition of "making [us] drink the Kool-Aid." This has a very unpleasant smell to me. I think I'll just sit this one out.

When I first saw the the announcement of the conference several weeks ago, I immediately talked to my boss about having the company send a few of us there. However, having read yesterday's post about Zed Shawn's rant (as well as the rent itself) at http://www.theserverside.com/news/thread.tss?thread_id=48013>), I started looking at a few things differently. In this newly found worldview of mine having a consulting company give a keynote on "Shifting Paradigms" is the very definition of "making [us] drink the Kool-Aid." This has a very unpleasant smell to me. I think I'll just sit this one out.

Well, I'm not a marketing person, but I'd like to make a point, if I could: you can't paint all consultants with the same brush. TSSJS is carefully vetted for bias; we don't encourage sales meetings without merit. Of course, being human, some get through - it's unavoidable, because in a lot of cases, the experts are experts because they've a lot of experience in consulting in their specific field.

Yes, we're geeks, we're pwnt, we're l337, etc.

It is "we're teh pwn". know your leetspeak :)

Yes, we're geeks, we're pwnt, we're l337, etc.

It is "we're teh pwn".

know your leetspeak :)

I knew I shoulda got schooled on this stuff. Maybe I'm not so leet after all...

Maybe the conference agenda on the TSSJS website should be cleared. Currently the agenda of last year is showing: http://javasymposium.techtarget.com/lasvegas/caag.html People might get the wrong idea since there's nothing there indicating that it's the one from 2007.