Rod Johnson, SpringSource

Rod is the father of Spring. The Spring Framework open source project began in February 2003, based on the Interface21 framework published with Rod's best-selling Expert One-on-One J2EE Design and Development.

Rod is one of the world's leading authorities on Java and J2EE development. He is a best-selling author, experienced consultant, and open source developer, as well as a popular conference speaker.

Rod's best-selling Expert One-on-One J2EE Design and Development (2002) was one of the most influential books ever published on J2EE. The sequel, J2EE without EJB (July 2004, with Juergen Hoeller), has proven almost equally significant, establishing a comprehensive vision for lightweight, post-EJB J2EE development.

Rod has extensive experience as a consultant in a wide range of industries: principally, finance, media and insurance. He has specialized in server-side Java development since 1996. Prior to that, he worked mainly in C and C++. His experience as a consultant has led him to see problems from a client's perspective as well as a technology perspective, and has driven his influential criticism of bloated, inefficient, orthodox approaches to J2EE architecture, which have delivered very poor results for stakeholders.

Rod is the founder of the Spring Framework, which began from code published with Expert One-on-One J2EE Design and Development. Along with Juergen Hoeller, he continues to lead the development of Spring.

He regularly speaks at conferences in the US, Europe and Asia, including the ServerSide Symposium (2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006), JavaPolis (Europe's leading Java conference) in 2004 and 2005, JavaZone (2004 and 2005) and JAOO (2004). He was awarded a prize for giving one of the top 20 presentations (by evaluation) at JavaOne in 2005, and delivered keynotes at the JavaWorld conference in Tokyo, June, 2005, the JAX conference in Munich (October, 2005) and the Spring Experience conference in Bal Harbour, Florida, in December 2005.

Rod serves in the JCP on the Expert Groups defining the Servlet 2.4 and JDO 2.0 specifications. His status as a leader in the Java community has been recognized through his invitation to Sun's Java Champions program. Rod continues to be actively involved in client projects at Interface21, as well as Spring development, writing and evangelism.

Presentation: "Panel: Open Source and Open Standards"

Track: Solution Track - Wednesday

Time: Wednesday 17:00 - 18:00

Location: Rutherford Room

Abstract:

This panel discussion will focus on the synergies and tensions between open source and the standards process. Why and when should open-source developers get involved in the standards development? How do standards-developing organizations such as the Java Community Process (JCP) need to change in order to accommodate individuals and open-source groups? What lessons can each group learn from the other?

The participants in this discussion have direct and practical experience in the open standards and the open source worlds.

Join us for a stimulating discussion, and bring your questions and comments.

Presentation: "The Cathedral, the Bazaar and the Commissar: The Evolution of Innovation in Enterprise Java"

Track: Evolving Java

Time: Thursday 16:00 - 17:00

Location: St James's Suite

Abstract:

Now that enterprise Java has passed its 10 year anniversary it's timely to examine the story of innovation in the platform--a story of dramatic change.

In the beginning, vendors built proprietary products such as TopLink that helped to define important functionality, in a traditional "cathedral" model. Open source had little influence on enterprise Java. The emergence of the JCP as the dominant influence on programming model and infrastructure design changed things dramatically. By 2000, J2EE had largely replaced proprietary models as a strategic solution. This grew the market greatly and firmly established enterprise Java, but proved unsuccessful as a source of innovation--indeed, sometimes to stifle innovation. From 2002, open source solutions began to drive innovation in enterprise Java, helping to improve the platform and make users more successful.

Today all three forces of innovation (commercial, JCP and open source) remain important, but the lines are increasingly blurred. Standards create markets; markets enable a flowering of open source; open source in turn influences standards and sometimes supplants standards; the JCP is no longer the sole significant standards body; proprietary software vendors still flourish in some areas; and there are many commercial offerings around open source. Market leading products reflect the influence of all three forces of innovation.

In this session, Rod Johnson will provide an opinionated view of the story of enterprise Java innovation, what it teaches us about the wider industry and the lessons we should consider when making technology choices.

Presentation: "Spring"

Track: Interviews

Time: Thursday 17:15 - 18:15

Location: Wordsworth Room

Presentation: "Ending Panel"

Time: Friday 17:15 - 18:15

Location: Fleming Room