A "maven" is a trusted expert in a particular field, who seeks to pass knowledge on to others. The word maven comes from Hebrew and means one who understands, based on an accumulation of knowledge.

Apache Maven is an open-source software project management and comprehension tool. Based on the concept of a project object model (POM), Maven can manage a project's build, reporting and documentation from a central source of information (pom.xml).

Features and benefits of Maven include:

• A standard project directory structure
• Efficient management of project dependencies (libraries and/or other projects on which your project depends
• A standard project lifecycle, including unit and integration testing
• Ability to customize the build process through the use of Maven plugins
• Local and centralized repositories of JAR files and other types of libraries
• Generation of web-based or PDF documentation
• Interoperability with various source code management and issue tracking systems

Leading software development teams around the world use Maven, including AT&T, Cisco, eBay, HBO, Intuit, Northrop Grumman, Southwest Airlines, Verizon, and many others.

/training/etc is excited to announce that we are developing instructor-led Maven classes to complement the online "Virtual Classroom" training offered by our training partner Sonatype, who spearheads the development and enhancement of Maven and Maven-related products, as well as maintaining the central repository of reusable project artifacts ("Maven Central").  We are currently offering Maven Mechanics and Advanced Maven: Development Infrastructure Design courses.  Register here for either course.   

As with all /training/etc courses, our instructors are "training mavens" who have the ability to take technical information and breathe life into in the classroom.  Our hands-on labs give students the ability to immediately apply and extend their knowledge.   

- Alan Baumgarten has been an instructor with /training/etc for the past 15 years.  He has authored numerous course materials and currently teaches courses in Java,  Maven, WebLogic, Perl, C, Hibernate, Spring, and SQL.

The REST model fundamentally aligns web service and web application development with the best assets of the web itself -  the ubiquity and simplicity of HTTP, fine-grained URLs, and MIME content types. In so doing, it offers to streamline development considerably, even tearing down the wall between the notions of "web service" and "web application" that are so fixed in the SOAP/WSDL world. REST has attracted IT organizations interested in simplicity, interoperability, and especially scalability. As of Java EE 6, the primary Java API for REST, JAX-RS, has been made a mandatory package for application servers, further boosting the visibility and momentum of REST for the Java developer.

Our course shows experienced Java programmers how to build RESTful web services using the Java API for RESTful Web Services, or JAX-RS.  We begin with an overview of web services development in the Java EE platform, including SOAP, WSDL, REST, JAX-WS, JAXB, and JAX-RS. Then, students learn to work with JAXB to bind Java object models to XML Schema. The bulk of the course is devoted to the study of JAX-RS.  Students work with the Jersey implementation of JAX-RS to create RESTful services from simple single-value interactions to more sophisticated services that manage CRUD (create/retrieve/update/delete) operations on more complex data types, using JAXB to marshal and unmarshal data over the wire.

We are offering our 3-day Developing RESTful Services in Java v1.1 course on May 17th, so register now to learn how to build RESTful web services. 

The United States Army is creating a Mobile/Handheld Computing Environment, which is an Android-based smartphone framework and suite of applications for military tactical operations. These applications will be used in a variety of ways including, but not limited to, allowing Army personnel to:

• enter enemy locations into a GPS to warn fellow soldiers;
• mark warning signals to future soldiers; and 
• take photos of soldiers wounds and pass them to doctors.

The government says these applications will be created to ensure that information flows freely across all levels of the force.

The military's goal is for every soldier in the field to carry a smartphone for tactical operations. The Mobile /Handheld CE development kit will be released in July of this year, and the Army already has test subjects ready to try it out.  Soldiers from the 2nd Brigade, 1st Armored Division will test them at White Sands Missile Range, NM, and the Army hopes to officially launch the program in 2013.  For more information on this Android-based framework, read the entire article here. 

If you are interested in learning more about Android, we are offering a 3-day Introduction to Android class beginning 6/20, and you may register here.