IBM Java Dev.

This article launches a new developerWorks series by Neal Ford that performs a deep comparison of three next-generation JVM languages: Groovy, Scala, and Clojure. In this initial installment, find out what you'll gain from understanding their similarities and differences -- whether or not you choose to keep using Java as your main programming language for now.

The last of three installments about commonalities among Clojure, Scala, and Groovy investigates how these languages handle exceptions, expressions, and null -- all problem areas for the Java language. Each of the Java.next languages addresses the shortcomings of the Java language through a unique implementation that highlights that language's characteristics.

Using responsive web design has become a popular approach for creating a single web site that optimizes content and layout automatically by relying on the use of CSS media queries. This article discusses how to leverage the device class mechanism in WebSphere Portal to filter resources and optimize the resource aggregation within the theme for certain devices. These techniques will make your responsive theme perform better and give the user a more consistent experience.

Mobile users are typically distracted, busy, and ergonomically constrained, so build your mobile application UIs accordingly. Andrew Glover discusses key factors that differentiate mobile apps from web apps, then guides you through the creation of a mobile application UI that uses swipe gestures for navigation rather than button clicks.

While on-premise COBOL programs have been successfully transformed into Java-based SaaS applications, there are multithreading issues developers should watch out for when interfacing COBOL and Java with one another in a SaaS application. The author illustrates what proactive actions to take in a multithreaded SaaS failure scenario.

In this series, HTML5 maven David Geary shows you how to implement an HTML5 2D video game one step at a time. In this installment, learn how Snail Bait implements collision detection and explosions.

Common complaints about the Java language concern excessive ceremony for simple tasks and defaults that are sometimes confusing. All three of the Java.next languages take more sensible approaches in those areas. This installment of Java.next shows how Groovy, Scala, and Clojure smooth out the Java language's rough edges.

The jQuery UI is now the industry standard for theme implementation because of its support for widgets. Dive into the jQuery UI platform with Java architect Ken Ramirez to learn how to use jQuery UI's native themes and design custom themes for your site.

Storm is an open source, big-data processing system that differs from other systems in that it's intended for distributed real-time processing and is language independent. Learn about Twitter Storm, its architecture, and the spectrum of batch and stream processing solutions.

Text visualization is an effective way to see and analyze what a designated text is saying. Learn to combine Eclipse and open source text visualization and analytics tools to build a word-wave application that visualizes and compares two texts.

In this series, HTML5 maven David Geary shows you how to implement an HTML5 2D video game one step at a time. In this installment, you'll learn how to bend time to your will to create nonlinear motion and color changes.

The Java.next languages (Groovy, Scala, and Clojure) have more commonalities than differences, converging toward common ground in many of their features and conveniences. This installment explores how they each address a longstanding deficiency in the Java language -- the inability to overload operators. It also discusses the related concepts of associativity and precedence.

The mobile landscape is rich with promise, and Android is a viable and exciting platform for developers who seek a way in. This new series starts with an introduction to Android that is tailored specifically for Java developers just getting started with mobile. Learn about Android's three-layer versioning system (and find out why it matters), then set up your development environment and build your first Android app.

The 2.1 release of Health Center contains a powerful API. The API allows Java developers to embed Health Center in their applications and harness its monitoring power to troubleshoot problems. Part 2 of this series takes the deadlock detection application from Part 1 and adds a method-profiling view to show where the application spends most of its CPU cycles.

The 2.1 release of Health Center contains a powerful API. The API allows Java developers to embed Health Center in their applications and harness its monitoring power to troubleshoot problems. In Part 1 of this two-part article, you learn to use the Health Center API and to monitor for deadlocks in a running Java application. Part 2 uses the deadlock detection application that is developed in this article and adds a method-profiling view to show where the application spends most of its CPU cycles.

Regression and incremental tests play an important role during the testing of an application that might comprise hundreds or thousands of requirements. While the execution of incremental tests can sometimes be run manually, regression tests require an automation tool or framework. The support for multiple operating systems, architectures, and middleware software, like application servers and databases, make the necessity of an automation framework even more urgent. This article briefly introduces STAF/STAX test automation framework. It also shows how you can use it to build a framework for the automation of tests and continuous integration in a complex test bed.

In this series, HTML5 maven David Geary shows you how to implement an HTML5 2D video game one step at a time. In the first of two consecutive installments, you'll implement the runner sprite's jumping and falling behavior.