Eclipse 2.1 M5 is out. [postneo] I’ve been using Eclipse for the last couple weeks when I do Java work and I love it (I’ve also used Notepad, JCreator LE, JRUN Studio, Sun Forte and others I can’t remember). I dig the code completion, the compile time error checking/feedback and the price. I haven’t been able to get it running on linux yet, although installing on a PC is a snap. Try it out if you haven’t already.

Using the Decorator Pattern: “The main difference between subclassing and the Decorator pattern is this: with subclassing, you work with the class, whereas in the Decorator pattern, you modify objects dynamically. When you extend a class, the change you make to the child class will affect all instances of the child class. With the Decorator pattern, however, you apply changes to each individual object you want to change.” [onjava]

One of the comments at the end of the article mentions that the Decorator pattern is always illustrated using UI components (and, in fact, the first couple pages of Design Patterns uses only UI type examples, Design Patterns also mentions using the Decorator pattern with streams). What other uses can the Decorator pattern be put to? Better, in what ways have you used the Decorator pattern?

update on JCACHE from Cameron Purdy: “JCache. jCache. JCACHE. Who knows. It’s Technically known as JSR 107 and it’s been stuck in the doldrums until recently due to Oracle licensing issues. I am on the expert commitee. One thing that I really dislike about the JCP is its total lack of transparency. The work all goes on behind an iron curtain. Take this JSR for example. It’s been in process for a year and a half, but no one outside the JSR knows what state it is in. The specs inside the JSR don’t match the ones published with the original JSR at all. The specs implemented by various future JCACHE vendors don’t match either the originally published API or the current thinking for the JSR. There’s no status updates, no accountability. If a vendor wanted to implement the spec, they’d have to wait for the public review period at the earliest, and would be far behind Tangosol, Oracle, SpiritSoft, etc. by that point. The JCP should not be the means to a market advantage for a company; it should the means for the market advantage of Java.”

Bummer…

I’m (perennially) working on karensrecipes.com tonight, putting the final touches on the application. I’d running into a couple places on the site where performance is not so good so I’d like to start caching objects, presumably in the servlet container. I’m looking for ‘the way’ to cache instances of objects in a web application. I found this article on JavaWorld.com, which seems promising, but doesn’t relate caching to a servlet container. Would you just place the hashtable in the ServletContext using setAttribute()?

JCACHE – Java Temporary Caching API looks promising as well, although I don’t see where JCACHE lives.. anyone else know if JCACHE is alive and well?

I remember going to a presentation on caching at JavaOne last year, one of the presentations was on ESI, but of course, they have nothing to download on that site, so it’s worthless.