How to make a browser based IDE to code in the cloud? - java

I have read a bit about cloud and browser based IDE's.
I am planning to make a Java based bare bones IDE by integrating a compiler to code in the cloud. This is for educational purpose as I am just determined to learn to develop cloud based IDE.
I want it to be something like eclipse Orion but i want it to allow for coding in java. It should allow users to code, compile and run java programs by directly writing .java files and not by converting the .js files into java files.
Can someone please suggest me an existing cloud that I should use for this. And also, I am just a beginner and I have no clue about how to proceed and the articles that I am required to read.
Please do let me know what I should begin with and the cloud that suits my needs the best.
Thank you very much in advance.

You should look at projects like Mozilla SkyWriter, which implement the bare bones editing functionality
(There have been a lot of change lately. There seems to have been migrated to Ace)

You can use Codenvy and put your code on a Git repository. Then, you could build automatically once you have done the push using a CI tool like Jenkins. Now, I have an environment in which I use a Jenkins instance as a Service and also a runtime environment so I can get a continuous deployment pipeline. This video will show you, in a graphical way, what I am talking about.

Koding provides you with a full Ubuntu machine, with root, so it's able to run and do what you want, programming wise.
The reason i'm suggesting Koding though, is that they have a Framework to develop your IDE for the Koding VMs themselves.
The logic here, is that making IDEs is challenging, but the biggest challenges is ensuring security between your IDE users. Using another VM platform would mean that you don't have to manage the security of your VM, and focus entirely on your IDE.
Let me know what you think :)

For virtual/cloud hosting try one of the following:
Rackspace
VPS Farm
I like vpsfarm because it is cheap and pretty bare bones.
For the IDE itself, I would first create a webapp that can upload and compile and run arbitrary java code, without adding libraries or J2EE. That alone will be a good undertaking for one dev.

Related

spring insight with org.codehaus.paranamer

I have a java spring GWT web application. I need to use a profiler to view why is a certain function that slow (on server)... After some searching, seems that insight is a good way... tried it and it works... what I did is create a tc server instance (developer edition) with insight and add the project to it. It works.
The problem here is that I use maven plugin "org.codehaus.paranamer", that is a plugin that I use to get function paramater names... It works post-compilation to add a special private field in the class that holds the parameters names.
This is a problem with insight since it seems that it modifies the code too and that it works on the source code not the compiled version in the target folder.
What I can do to make this work? FYI, all I need is profile the app.. not necessarily with insight....
Edit:
I ended up using visualvm... It can help with profiling the app on the cpu level and the memory level... That is the way I can use the common remote profiling mechanism jerry was talking about.
For profile of JAVA apps(including tomcat instances), I strongly recommend the TPTP(Eclipse Test & Performance Tools Platform). You can read a lot here:
http://www.eclipse.org/articles/Article-TPTP-Profiling-Tool/tptpProfilingArticle.html
Especially for TPTP working with tomcat instance:
http://www.deepakgaikwad.net/index.php/2009/02/10/tutorialprofiling-with-tptp-and-tomcat.html
Some of the information in the above article may be outdated, but main workflow is the same.
For commercial profilers, I will recommend yourkit profiler: http://www.yourkit.com/
I don't know if there is a trial edition available now, but years ago, this profile is more user friendly than TPTP.

How to start using velocity

How do I start using velocity? Is there a place that helps me understand what do I need to install? which server? how to start? first steps?
I know how to install wamp (I have windows) and work a bit with PHP on aptana - so this is my general knowledge and I need to know the first steps to velocity (what type of server do I need? Will Aptana do the trick or do I need to install also eclipse?)
thanks,
Alon
The "Getting Started" section in the Velocity developer guide is the place to get started on the code side.
What type of server do you need? Are you going to use Velocity to create a web application using Velocity? You'll likely want Apache Tomcat (or Jetty, etc.) to get started, because there's a ton of documentation and tutorials.
Aptana is Eclipse, but you might be better off with a plain old Eclipse; Aptana is geared more towards framework-specific functionality (PHP, Rails, etc.) You should be able to add the Java ecosystem web stuff to it if it isn't already there; not sure how easy/difficult it would be.
Be aware that making a jump from PHP to Java web development is a big leap in terms of what you need to know, how apps are generally coded, the Java ecosystem (libraries in particular), etc.

Apache MINA Vysper documentation?

I plan on making an instant messaging app on Android and iOS, where you can chat to other people with the app, along with some custom features.
I’m going to use the XMPP protocol, and make a custom extension for it. I plan on making a Java application running on Amazon Web Services (AWS) so it's scalable.
After researching server options I’ve decided to use Apache Vysper.
However, I’ve never made a proper Java application before, and have never used XMPP, AWS or Vysper – so I’m rather reliant on good documentation :-)
The Apache Vysper project is very new and so the docs are a bit sparse. I was wondering if I was missing something, should I be using the general MINA docs as well? Are there other resources
elsewhere I don’t know about?
“Apache Vysper can run stand-alone or embedded into another
application.”
To be honest I’m just as lost when it comes to working out what to use to make a Java application anyway. Do you know if the AWS Java SDK has everything I need to make an application to use on AWS? And then is it a simple matter of integrating Vysper into this? Or do I need to make a Java application using something such as the Spring framework?
Thanks for taking the time to help me. If you know anything that could clarify the situation I would really appreciate it :-) --and sorry be being a bit useless, but hey, we've all got to start somewhere right ;)
First of all, as the founder of Vysper I apologize that the documentation is lacking completeness.
To answer your question(s).
Most Java applications bring their own ready-to-go start scripts with them.
Vysper is no exception. You get the pre-packaged download here:
http://mina.apache.org/vysper-project/downloads.html
Ok, before running it, you need to have Java installed, whether you're on your own machine, AWS, a server or a virtual machine anywhere else. Get it from Oracle, or use the package management of your Linux distribution. Make sure that after installing Java, you can execute "java -version" on the command line and you are all set.
Then, unpack the Vysper download, change to the bin/ directory and execute "run.sh" or "run.bat", depending on your OS.
Please note that support for Vysper - besides here on StackOverflow - is available on the MINA user mailing list here:
http://mina.apache.org/vysper-project/mailing_lists.html

How to distribute Java-based software?

Now, don't get me wrong, I am a very competent programmer, but when I program, I typically develop things for the web using scripting languages like JavaScript, PHP, Python, SQL, etc. If I want to develop Java software (I am relatively experienced in Java), how do I distribute it?
Is there any good way to package up Java software in a nice little executable, send it out, and have it run? Alternatively, is there any good way to package up Java in some sort of installer, and send it out to be installed and run?
I'm using Launch4J http://launch4j.sourceforge.net/ it will generate an .exe executable for Windows, if the targeted system don't have JVM, it will tell user to download and get JVM.
You can package Java applications in so called jar-files using the jar tool or any competent Java IDE. These jar-files are self-contained and seldom need any installer.
These .jar files can easily be distributed and executed.
If you're used to web-development, you may also be interested in the Java Webstart technology.
Some links to get you started.
Export to a .jar-file in Eclipse
Lesson: Java Webstart
I have found two approaches to work well, depending on the needs of the end user.
1) Java WebStart - allows for central distribution and easy maintenance, but works best for online users. Require you to have a web site to locate the files - these days this is easy to do on the Google Application Engine.
2) Wrapping up the Java program in a single jar using one-jar, and then using jsmooth to generate an .EXE file which ensures Java is available, extracts the jar-file and invokes Java on it. This works well for users not always on the net, where you want the launch process to be transparent, but is less easy to upgrade than the webstart approach.
I use Maven to handle all the dependencies of my projects and that way when you utilise Maven to build your projects they will compile into one nice executable jar that contains everything so you dont need to worry about getting all your third-party jars in the right place etc.
There are a couple of ways: one is to create an installer that allows your user to install and run it. For this you can take a look at NSIS.... or you can just use Java Web Start where your user can just click the link and launch your application.
Here you will find a large set of options: Open Source Installers Generators in JavaIt is very useful for the "naive" customer or user of your application, to make the installation process as painless as possible. Let them install whatever is needed, DBMS, JVM, JMF and additional options via one installer.
You can also consider use one of the rich client platforms available for Java. The learning curve is probably a lot higher than just creating a jar file and ship it, but you will get a lot for free when it comes to distribution. (Think Eclipse with auto update through an update site).
Do a search for "Eclipse RCP" and "Netbeans RCP" and you'll find the two biggest contenders here. I also performed a serach for "eclipse RCP installer" and one of the hits seems interesting:
http://download.instantiations.com/RCPPackagerDoc/integration/latest/docs/html/gettingstarted/GenInstaller.html
I personally like izpack. It generates a jar file installer that you could wrap up in launch4j, supports things like windows specific shortcuts, is highly customisable through XML and hooks directly into ant.
OneJar is great for smaller stuff, but for larger programs or applications it's nowhere near as flexible and in my experience is rather slow.
Hello you can make an installer for your application.
In the link below you will find a nice help about izpack installer.
http://www.imrantariq.com/blog/?p=89
Link below contains a detailed pdf to make installer with izpack.
http://www.imrantariq.com/blog/?attachment_id=112
cheers

Java in a Microsoft shop

I've been introduced to this wonderful project, xhtmlrenderer; the flying saucer project. Problem is, is that where I work, it's strictly a microsoft shop and I haven't done any java development since college, and a smidge of WebSphere a few years back.
I was wondering what it takes these days to do java development? I set up a quick proof of concept to see if I could do what I wanted with this project and it works great, however, I used jnbridge whose licenses are a bit on the expensive side but Visual Studio was what I had handy and got the job done with an hour of finagling.
I'm wondering what it take to do java development these days? Are servlets still the norm? Is Apache where I should start looking to get a small web server up and running? Is Eclipse/Ganymede the IDE to use?
Essentially what I want to do is pass a url to the service and have it spit back out a PDF. Just on vacation right now, and stuck on dial up, but can't stop thinking about this.
Thought I'd post these thoughts now to see if I can get a jump start on next weeks work.
Eclipse is certainly the IDE on no budget, NetBeans is also free. I prefer IDEA from Intellij, but for something that sounds like such a side part of your project, it probably isn't worth the money.
In terms of servlets, etc., it really depends on the archetecture/scalability you are looking for.
If you are looking for something that needs to run as a small web interface, then something like Jetty or Tomcat with a basic servlet should be fine.
You might be looking at something invoked via the command line, although starting a JVM for every conversion is going to be too heavy for all but the most trivial usages, but a little program that monitors a directory and pulls stuff out of it for the conversion may be what you need.
If you give more details about the archetecture and how you are planing to use it you could get some more specific advice.
In general .NET and Java development are quite similar (.NET was started to compete directly with Java, after all), but the real practical difference is that a lot of the .NET environment is kind of provided to you on a silver platter. You need a web container, you have IIS, you need a database, you have MS-SQL, You need an IDE, you have Visual Studio, etc., etc. In Java development, these are all choices to be made, there isn't really a default obvious good choice for a lot of things - there are many competitors. That can create a larger curve for a Microsoft shop than you are expecting.
Java's not all that different, although generics add some excitement; PDF with iText is fairly straightforward; and the IDE world is pretty much the same as ever. Eclipse and Netbeans are common, there are several others, and real programmers still use EMACS.
Apache is pretty generic, but with servlets in mind you might think about Tomcat.
If you want a small enough web server, you can always use an embedded Jetty. If you need the full services of Tomcat, it's also available. For Java development, I use Eclipse for an IDE. Not only is it free, but its support of refactoring is ahead of Visual Studio. Actually, if you used the WebSphere development environment, then Eclipse will be very familiar.
Consider sneaking in IKVM (http://www.ikvm.net/) as it allows you to use Java components in a .NET environment.

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