Thread:For the event (1)

Topics of Interest
My role will be to float between groups, so I will probably not be proposing these topics, but will be interested in any discussions along these lines. Comment welcome and feel free to adapt and propose for the agenda anything you find here :-).


 * Free Software and Java: anything relating to Java and libre software.
 * Dispelling the FUD around Java in some free software communities (a debate perhaps)
 * Software patents, Oracle, Google - implications for free software development in Java and programming in general.
 * Creating (fun to do) libre/open educational resources for aspiring Java developers
 * Possible activities in Crete:
 * Enhance "Become a Guru" on WikiEducator.
 * Co-produce a tutorial on some aspect of Java programming (e.g. to inspire beginners, programmers from languages other than Java, ...)
 * Co-develop an (optionally "JavaSpecialists"-branded) area on WikiEducator for aspiring career programmers ("pragmatic programmers" :-)
 * Note: some educational institutions have created branded areas: see Featured Institutions.
 * Agile methodologies for hybrid co-located/distributed teams (something similar to this topic has already been suggested).
 * Developing distributed P2P Java applications (JavaSpaces, JXTA, Jini, etc.). for example, developing software which addresses concerns of user freedom with software as a service (see also: Who does that server really serve?).
 * Discussion (pre-event, or on day 1): Brainstorming the theme
 * Why do we need to put the fun _back_ into Java (looking at the topics suggested so far, it seems Java is still fun :-).
 * Why is Java not fun now? Fun for whom? (new/seasoned developers?)
 * Why was it fun?
 * Is Java less fun than Ruby? Python? ...
 * Identify parts of the Java development process regarded as drudgery or not-fun
 * share stories of how some people managed to make these activities fun
 * design learning activities to skill people in the strategies to enhance the fun factor or reduce the pain.
 * e.g. maintenance is not fun, ..., unit testing can reduce maintenance, refactoring can make it easier.
 * Why is it important to resurrect the fun factor in Java?
 * Where to from here?
 * a curriculum for Java specialists on WikiEducator?
 * streamlining and enhancing the fun factor of parts of the development process which are typically not fun.
 * JavaFunPatterns (of human fun creation behaviours): pattern development, anti-pattern identification, classification and pattern language
 * Template: context, problem, forces, solution (structure, strategies), consequences, case study/example, related patterns.
 * Pattern relationships diagram (see Core J2EE Patterns book Fig 6.2 p 141 in 1st edition, Fig 5.2 p132 in 2nd ed).