This article takes a new look at UPC symbols and bar codes, and describes how you can use Java to read information from a UPC bar code. The authors explain how to expedite and organize your enterprise operations that revolve around an IBM DB2 database. The sample application described in the article includes downloadable code.

JSP technology is well-known, supported by most application servers, and endorsed by the J2EE Blueprints. Why would you choose otherwise? In this first of a two-part series, learn about the Tea template language and how Tea can be a viable alternative to JSP technology.

This is a series of tutorials that show you how to create an object-orientated adventure gaming system.

This article shows you how to combine and leverage the best parts of Jiro technology and the Web-Based Enterprise Management (WBEM) initiative. Using familiar examples from the previous two articles of this column, this article introduces the WBEM client technologies for accessing and manipulating data in a CIMOM. It then shows you how to access the same data more elegantly and efficiently, by rearchitecting the Jiro management facade to act as the interface to the CIMOM. Finally, he talks about the need for greater standardization of Jiro management facades and discusses the future of management application programming under a combined Jiro and WBEM development platform.

The latest release of IBM WebSphere Studio and the Portal Toolkit plug-in provide new features for developing front-end applications using Java Server Faces. These features enable developers to quickly and easily use visual rapid-application development tools and provide a rich set of interesting user interface components not easily created or maintained in the past. This tutorial demonstrates how a framework as flexible as Java Server Faces and the tools provided by both WebSphere Studio and the Portal Toolkit make short order of integrating, testing and maintaining a portal-based front end.

The Java 2 Platform, Micro Edition (J2ME) offers great tools for developers, porting the Java platform's network-centric and platform-agnostic worldview down to memory- and processor-limited devices. This article explains the basics of the J2ME world, showing you the building blocks of the platform and demonstrating a sample application.

With emergence of Java 5, a set of new features is included in Java technology. Many programmers working on Java technology were excited before its release about its new features. In this article, new features of Java 5 are summarized which are important from programmer’s point of view.

If you've ever wanted to build your own supercomputer but have been held back by the demands of parallel programming in C, Pseudo Remote Threads is for you. This prize-winning Java programming model greatly simplifies parallel programming on clusters, bringing supercomputing out of the laboratory and into the hands of everyday Java programmers. Article includes code snipets.

Glass box extensibility refers to the ways in which a software system may be extended when the source code is available for viewing, but not for modifying -- it lies as the happy medium between black box design (in which extensions are built without viewing the original code) and open box design (extensions are coded directly into the base code). Because the new extensions are based directly on the original code but don't alter it, the glass box design is probably the most effective, and safest, method of extending a software system. This article expands on the topic of glass box extensibility touched on last month in this column. After reading this article, you'll know when to use the glass box and will have some tips on how to implement it.

Neural nets may be the future of computing. A good way to understand them is with a puzzle that neural nets can be used to solve. Suppose that you are given 500 characters of code that you know to be C, C++, Java, or Python. Now, construct a program that identifies the code's language. One solution is to construct a neural net that learns to identify these languages. This article discusses the basic features of neural nets and approaches to constructing them so you can apply them in your own coding.