Class-Action Lawsuit Claims GitHub Copilot is Violating Open-Source Licenses

GitHub rolled out a slew of product announcements at its annual GitHub Universe developer conference earlier this month. As we reported, expanded access for business users of its Copilot AI pair programming service generated the loudest buzz. (The company calls the new offering "Copilot for Business.")

Posted by John K. Waters on November 22, 20220 comments

Java has a 'Commanding Lead' with App Log Data

New Relic just released its 2022 State of Logs Report, which captured the data gathered from millions of applications within the New Relic observability platform to provide an in-depth look at the use and management of logs.

The publication of a report on log data stats is not the sexiest tech news to cross my desk, but amid the Sturm und Drang of the current landscape the report's authors offer some appealingly quotidian insights into an activity that is, let's face it, critical to every business in every industry.

Posted by John K. Waters on October 16, 20220 comments

Popular Previews and Incubating Features: Java 19 Now GA

Oracle today announced the general availability of version 19 of the Java Development Kit (JDK 19), and though it's not a long-term support (LTS) release, the latest version of the reference implementation of the Java SE platform comes with a bundle of previews and incubating features that make this short-term release well worth a look.

On schedule with the accelerated, six-month release cadence Oracle announced in 2017, JDK 19 includes seven JEPs (JDK Enhancement Proposals), only one of which is final. The list includes:

Posted by John K. Waters on September 20, 20220 comments

Lightbend Changes Licensing Model for Akka Amid Accusations of 'Cakeism'

Lightbend, the company behind the Scala JVM language and developer of the Reactive Platform, is changing the license on its Akka technology from Apache 2.0 to the BSL v1.1 (Business Source License), starting with Akka v2.7, which is set for release in October.

Posted by John K. Waters on September 8, 20220 comments

Microsoft Amps up its Support for Java Developers with a New Website

Microsoft today announced the launch of a new website designed to provide Java developers with a new level of support in the form of tools and resources that enable them to code, deploy, and scale their apps more productively.

The website is another brick in the foundation of support for Java developers that Microsoft has been building over the last couple of years (which my colleague, David Ramel, has been tracking quite diligently in Visual Studio Magazine.) The new site is chock-a-block (pun intended) with content and links to technical documentation, learning paths, and on-demand videos from Microsoft conferences and its Java Cloud Developer Advocacy team.

Posted by John K. Waters on August 30, 20220 comments

Survey Says: 'Python Going Through the Roof'

I haven't reported on the TIOBE Index in a while, but that headline is a real attention grabber. Since 2001, TIOBE Software has published the results of its monthly search for the languages in which the most lines of code were written. And year after year, Java and C++ have topped the list—but not always, and when they don't, obituaries for these two venerable languages spread like crabgrass.

Which is crazy. The enterprise is effectively running on Java, and… okay, C++ is pretty long in the tooth, but it's been around for 40-plus years, which means, currently generating new lines of code or not, there are millions of programs out there written in C++.

Posted by John K. Waters on August 24, 20220 comments

Spring Authorization Server Set for November GA

The Spring Security team says it will release version 1.0 of its long-in-the-works Spring Authorization Server in November of this year.

The new authorization framework, which was announced in April 2020, provides implementations of the OAuth 2.1 and OpenID Connect 1.0 specifications and other related specs. It's built on top of Spring Security, which is a highly customizable authentication and access-control framework. The result, say the project's leaders, is a secure, light-weight, and customizable foundation for building OpenID Connect 1.0 Identity Providers and OAuth2 Authorization Server products.

Posted by John K. Waters on August 22, 20220 comments

Microsoft Joins Eclipse Jakarta EE and MicroProfile Working Groups

Microsoft boosted its support for Java developers yet again this week by expanding its participation in the Eclipse Foundation to include memberships in two working groups: the Jakarta EE Working Group, which focuses on the overall evolution of enterprise Java, and the MicroProfile Working Group, which focuses on optimizing enterprise Java for a microservices architecture.

Posted by John K. Waters on July 14, 20220 comments

Fifth Annual Call for Code Challenges Devs to Use their Powers for Good

Organizers of the fifth annual Call for Code Global Challenge have launched their annual invitation to software developers from around the world to create open-source solutions that accelerate sustainability and combat climate change.

Given the growing animus toward so-called Big Tech in some quarters and what I think can fairly be described as generalized opposition to technological innovation, it’s never been more important to remind the world that tech can be an incredibly powerful force for good. The annual Call for Code has grown since the first challenge was announced to become one of the world’s largest “tech for good” programs. It now attracts developers from 180 countries responding to this clarion call to use advanced technologies to design cutting-edge open source-powered hybrid cloud and AI solutions that can tackle the world’s most pressing societal issues.

Posted by John K. Waters on May 16, 20220 comments