2014
Oracle IoT Kids Workshop
So I just finished prepping 50 Raspberry Pi kits and 25 Lego sets for a kids programming workshop tomorrow, and put the finishing touches on the 99 page slide deck. Given the workshop doesn't start for another 6 hours, I think that is pretty timely. ;)
Top 3 reasons to register for JavaOne early...
JavaOne planning is already in full swing with the largest number of CFP proposals submitted in the past 4 years. However, you may not know, but we have made some changes this year that may make it worthwhile to sign-up a little earlier than usual.
NightHacking Tour - 1st Half Highlights
In case you have missed the first half of my insane tour through Europe, I have stayed in more cities in the past month than most people visit in a decade. Staring in Munich, I rented a motorcycle, loaded up a few hundred pounds of video and demo equipment, and have been riding around Europe to celebrate the launch of the Java 8 release with an itinerary including 4 conferences and 30 JUGs!
Java 8 Released! -- Lambdas Tutorial
To celebrate the release of Java 8 which was released just minutes ago, I am publishing a draft version of my Java 8 Lambdas Tutorial. It is a nice visual way to learn the Streams API, and will help you get started taking advantage of lambdas in your own applications from day 1. This article is scheduled to appear in the next Java Magazine release, so please look forward to the final version, and I will do my best to incorporate comments and feedback if they meet the publication deadline. Mary Had a Little Lambda Java lambdas are the most impactful feature to enter the Java language since the release of generics in Java 5. It fundamentally changes the programming model, allowing a functional style of development, and supports efficient parallelization of code to take advantage of multi-core systems. Although as a Java developer you will first notice the productivity improvements that you gain using the new lambda-enabled APIs in Java 8.
Devoxx4Kids Raspberry Pi and NAO Workshop
With the help of some local parents, I ran a Raspberry Pi and NAO Robot workshop for teach programming to 10-14 year old children. By the end of the 4 hour session, all of the kids were able to assemble a Raspberry Pi and touchscreen, program changes to a simple Java-based game, and create behaviors that ran on the NAO humanoid robot. Not bad for a sleepy vacation day. :)
NAO Robotics Hacking