Java

Nominations for the 2012 Duke's Choice Awards are open. The awards look to highlight innovative projects using Java technology. The nomination form can be found on the Duke's Choice Java.net site

The end date for nominations is June 15th, 2012. The ten most innovative projects will be announced in the September issue of Java Magazine as well as at JavaOne.

Winners receive a free JavaOne full conference pass and a Duke Award Statue.

Java SE 7 Update 4 turned out to be an exciting release for Mac users. This is the first release from Oracle to have a version of the JDK and JavaFX 2.1 SDK for the Mac OS X.

The first thing to note is this release is only for systems running Mac OS X Lion (v10.7.2) or later. Older Mac systems will be sticking to the Java for Mac JDK 6 versions previously released by Apple.

Also, this release doesn't support Java plugin and Java Web Start applications. This will be available in an upcoming JDK 7 release. There is a developer preview release for the JRE for Mac OS X with applet support available to try.

Have a look at the known issues section if you have any problems. NetBeans v7.1.2 supports the Java SE 7 Update 4 release.

The JDK for Java 7 Update 4 (and the corresponding Java 6 Update 32) are available to download from Oracle's Java download page.

The Java 7 Update 4 release includes:

• Java FX 2.1 SDK
  
• JDK support for the Mac OS X
• a new Hotspot JVM which signals a convergence with the JRockit JVM.
• a new Garbage collector

Have a look at the release notes for full details.

NetBeans v7.1.2 supports the Java SE 7 Update 4 release.

I've had a couple of String related questions recently so I thought I'd highlight a couple of articles. The String Literal looks at how String values can be created, The String Class is an overview of working with Strings and Manipulating Strings look at some common String processing using String class methods.

Related Articles:

• Comparing Strings
• Converting Strings to Numbers and Vice Versa
• Fun With Strings Example Code
  
• Primitive Data Types

The date for the annual JVM Language Summit has been set for July 30th-August 1st, 2012 at Oracle's Santa Clara campus. It's a chance for VM implementers to get together and talk about "language design and implementation on the JVM, and the present and future capabilities of the JVM itself". The agenda will be updated when the speakers have been finalized.

If you want to find out more, the official website gives details about the conference. Like last year, the sessions are expected to be recorded. Most of the sessions from the JVM Language Summit 2011 can be found online.

Hot on the heels of Java for OS X Lion 2012-002 there is a new Java update - Java for OS X 2012-003 (along with Java for Mac OS X 10.6 Update 8). The Java for OS X Lion 2012-002 patched several security flaws including the Flashback virus. If you haven't heard, the Flashback malware is a trojan virus that aims to steal usernames and passwords for online services.

Java for OS X 2012-003 and Java for Mac OS X 10.6 update 8 remove the virus from infected computers. After installing, if your computer was infected with Flashback a dialog will appear informing you that it has been dealt with. If your computer was not infected then there is no notification.

Java for OS X 2012-003 also adds a deactivation timer for the Java browser plugin and Java Web Start. If they are unused for 35 days they are deactivated. Users can reactivate the Java browser plugin and Java Web Start from the Java Preferences application in the Utilities folder.

The update will come through the software updater or can be downloaded from the Apple downloads page.

The CERT program is run by Carnegie Mellon University's Software Engineering Institute and aims to ensure that best practices are in place for systems to be able to resist attacks. The CERT Oracle Secure Coding Standard For Java book collates the coding rules for building secure and robust Java applications.

The coding rules, complete with example code, are presented in a useful reference book. Read the full CERT Oracle Secure Coding Standard For Java book review for more details.

Apple have released Java for OS X Lion 2012-002 (along with the corresponding Java for Mac OS X 10.6 Update 7).

This update includes 12 of the security fixes released in Oracle's Java SE 6 Update 31.

The update will come through the software updater or can be downloaded from the Apple downloads page.

Joe Darcy announced yesterday a late-breaking language change for JDK8 - the inclusion of a goto statement. He cited "increased expressiveness" and "more compact code" as inherent motivations behind the change.

I thought this was pretty funny for an April's fool joke. If you were switched on yesterday you hopefully spotted the April 1st creation date - although if you're living in a different time zone you might be forgiven for a bit of head scratching at the start!

Other clues were the change being reviewed by Duke and endorsed by Edsger Dijkstra (Dijkstra was particularly scornful of the GOTO statement).  If you're a sci-fi fan you might have also noticed the change is funded by the Firefly's evil Blue Sun Corporation.

If you did fall for it then GOTO jail. Do not pass GO. Do not collect $200...

24 Google April Fool's Day Jokes and Pranks

The Readers' Choice Awards 2012 included multiple channels ranging from technology to hobbies to parenting.  The winners from the computing channel can be found here:

• Web Browsers Awards
• PC Hardware / Reviews Awards
• Email Awards
• Google Awards
• Instant Messaging Awards
• Macs Awards
• Web Design / HTML Awards

To find out who scooped up the awards in the other About.com channels have a look at the awards website.